


A Saint in Clover

by JD_Riley



Series: Victorian A/B/O [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Sex, Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Knotting, Male!Omega, Marriage Proposal, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Omega Verse, Omegaverse, Poetry, Shakespearean Sonnets, Slow Burn, Smut, Spanking, Vaginal Sex, Victorian, female!Alpha, historical fiction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-13 07:05:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10508778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JD_Riley/pseuds/JD_Riley
Summary: Ten years ago, Valentine Elridge was compromised, marked, and shamed during his very first London season.  Resigned to living the rest of his life hidden away from the ton that has, thankfully, forgotten him, he finds himself no match against the meddlesome trio of his nieces who are intent on finding him the perfect mate, no matter how varied or numerous his protestations.  For all his reluctance, Val cannot seem to hold to his words when he finally comes face-to-face with the confident and stunning Lady Earl of Netherfield.





	1. Chapter 1

There was a tiny foot in his face, pressing insistently against his cheek until he came awake enough to lightly push it away. It came back nearly immediately so he sat up in his bed, rubbing his sleep-filled eyes and leaning over in an attempt to adjust the small body that was wrapped up in his covers. As easy as it seemed to pick children up when one was standing, it seemed nearly impossible to move them when they were sleeping in one's bed, their tiny forms taking on an almost unimaginable weight. He pulled his lip into his mouth while he contemplated his plan of attack, opting for a very gentle whisper in the tiny shell of his niece's ear, the smallest of endearments that would wake her only enough to lift that inexplicable heaviness that afflicted sleeping pups.

Her curled hand reached her ear and she giggled in her sleep, the sound sending a warm shot through his heart as an arrow to his soul. The little one who was insistent on escaping her room and sneaking into his bed made sure to settle deeply into the spot that he placed her, reaching out and latching her fingers into his night clothes, pulling them to her nose for the purpose of scenting him in her sleep. At only four, she was a sniffing machine, careful to memorize every scent she found and very particular about the ones she liked or did not like. Fortunately for Val, he was in the “like” category; a fact that sometimes ranked as “unfortunate” when the matter came between him and a good night's sleep.

He laid back down and arranged his arm around the pup, letting his gaze wander to the window where he could just barely see stars like tiny pinpricks on a massive velvet sky. It was late summer and the evening had been mild. He'd taken a walk around the grounds just to take in the breeze and memorize how the lawn and garden appeared before the guests arrived and trampled the fresh vibrant green of the grass or picked the luscious flowers in the garden, stringing together their silly flower crowns out of his favorite daisies. He was used to it: finding the limp remains of flowers littering the grounds, casualties of young newly-engaged Omegas who carelessly took out their giddiness or, conversely, their anxieties on the floral denizens of the estate.

These events were something that Valentine was careful to miss. His father, a man of many pleasures and vices, had kept a small hunting cottage on the estate grounds. It was modest, merely two rooms and consisted of nothing but a small kitchen and, connected, a bedchamber for the purpose of having clandestine meetings with his mistress. With the unspoken approval of his eldest brother, the Viscount after his father passed, Val kept the small cabin for himself, disappearing whenever he wished to be alone. He found himself there in many instances, choosing to spend his heats shut tight away from the rest of his family, permitting only his valet for meals and water. Over time, he had slowly filled it with his own personal collection of books and small art works he'd painted over the years and sometimes he thought he might have rather stayed in the little cottage more permanently.

The pup at his side shifted a little against him and he amended his thoughts. He couldn't abandon the manor house. Not quite yet. His eyes fluttered shut and he shook his head to settle it further into his soft pillow. The stillness of the night cocooned him though he fancied he could hear the faintest twittering of small birds outside. The barest hint of a morning before the sun had even tinted the sky.

By the time he awoke again, the sun was already high in the sky and he was being shaken awake by his brother's three daughters who had all come to jump on his bed. Lily Anna, the eldest, was seven, Julia, the middle child, was six, and his favorite, the blonde-haired walking giggle-fit who buried her nose in his throat with every hug was his lovable four-year-old Iris. When he sat up, the littlest pup pounced on him, hugging him about his shoulders with small—strong!—arms, laughing and shrieking while the other two yelled and laughed about breakfast, all still clad in their nightgowns.

“Wake up, Uncle Val. Wake up!” Lily Anna cried, plopping down on her tush next to him.

He laughed indulgently at them all, catching the still bouncing Julia by the waist and pulling her down to sit on his other side. “If you all make this much noise in the morning, you'll never be able to hide from Miss Morris. Do you really want her to find you?”

Julia stuck her tongue out at the mention of the severe governess.

Lily Anna flopped back, her head on his still-warm pillow. “It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have to be there with just each other. I miss when Iris was a baby. I want a baby to play with.” She rolled onto her side and pressed her small hand against Val's flat stomach. “Miss Morris says you could have a baby, Uncle Val. She says we could have a cousin.” Her bright violet eyes caught the sunlight. “When can we have one?”

He laughed even as a pang of emotion was released into his gut. He leaned over and kissed her soundly on the forehead over her eyebrow. “Maybe one day. Your Uncle Val needs to find a mate who doesn't mind that he reads too much.”

_Who doesn't mind a lot of things._

Lily Anna pulled a face. “Reading is no fun. I know not why you care to do it so much. I find it awfully boring.”

“So do plenty of other people,” he replied, moving to tickle her. She shrieked. “Which is why your Uncle will have to wait a long time to find someone who doesn't hate it. Someone who will sit still to be painted and put their fingers in my hair while I recite poetry to them.”

“Ew!” Julia laughed. She made a fish face. “And then they'll _kiss_ you. And then we can have a baby.”

“Well,” Val chuckled. “A baby is a tad bit more complex, but you are correct in that there is a bit of kissing involved.”

Iris smacked a big wet one on his cheek and then let loose a small laugh that was only equaled by the delicate nature of the bubbles in a flute of champagne.

With the ruckus they were making, it wasn't long before Miss Morris found them and after they had been corralled and led away, he laid back down while his valet, Perkins, laid out his clothes. Today was the beginning. His brother was having a week-long post-season get-together to celebrate any newly wed or newly engaged couples with the intent to not only allow them a party to present themselves together formally but a place to give them some time to see each other every day by matter of fact rather than by the gentlemen making fools of themselves calling upon their fiancees day by day. Guests should start arriving by the late afternoon and it was Val's intention to steer entirely clear of the estate for the duration.

“Perkins?” he asked as he stared upwards from his pillows.

Anticipating Val's next question, Perkins answered it. “I've settled your tea tray on the desk.”

He sighed, grateful for his valet above perhaps all others in his life. After all, he'd retained the man for nearly eight years. He should have been lying if he were to say that Perkins hadn't been the solid shoulder that caught many of Val's tears over the time they'd spent together. His valet helped him dress and he took his tea, considering himself at least partially ready to duck about and avoid guests.

When he came into the dining room, his brother Wendell, Viscount Halwill, was sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, a piece of toast in his fingers and his eyes scanning a paper. His brother was tall like many Alphas and like many other Alphas, his nature was rife with a hard cock-sure manner that drew against Val constantly. He was loud, boisterous, and he was married to the slight, courageous, and ever-patient Lady Halwill—Georgette.

“Morning Val,” Wendell muttered. “Slithering into the cracks today?”

He didn't bother answering, filling his plate from the sideboard and then settling himself at the opposite side of the table a few seats away from his brother. He had not one iota of an idea for how the most obnoxious of all of Val's siblings had to be the Viscount and how such an abrasive man had come to have the most gentle and compassionate of daughters.

_That's an easy one to solve._

As if by command of his thoughts, Georgette floated into the room in her light blue morning dress, her delicate Omega features perfectly molded to create a terrific beauty and her scent fresh and nearly over-powering, challenging the objectionable overtones of Wendell's pheromones easily. Val gratefully sniffed at the air, glad for the reprieve from the Viscount.

Wendell couldn't leave him be. “Hiding away in your little cabin while all the guests cavort?”

Georgette's soft voice drifted from the sideboard. “Do not tease your brother.”

The admonishment was met with Wendell's classic secretive pout, an expression that often made Val want to laugh out loud knowing that the proud Alpha was felled constantly by the soft and light requests of his beautiful Omega wife. Hardly requests, Val thought, knowing full well that when Georgette wanted something, she had plenty of nefarious ways of getting it. Aside from that, Georgette was the one who normally _wanted_ Val to be present at events—knowing he would be entirely willing to keep the girls under his watch if he were to stay; a much better choice than the governess or nanny who often lost the rambunctious little pups. Wendell, as much as he teased, was clearly happy about Val remaining hidden, never having to explain his existence to guests who'd either forgotten or never known of the other Elridge brother.

He was happy to be forgotten. Would that he should live long enough that anyone who remembered him should be dead before he was. He finished his breakfast and stood up, intent on gathering a few books from the library to keep him busy for the duration of the week. There was at least one unfinished painting that he would be able to work on while he was there and the small flowerbeds would need tending as well. There was plenty to do for a week at the small cabin and he wouldn't mind to be away for a little while.

Georgette's voice was gentle and clear when she addressed him, her huge hazel eyes loving. “Perhaps you will consider at least one night's dinner at the house with the guests, Val. We would dearly love to keep you.”

Wendell scoffed. “Let him be, Ettie. He doesn't want to be chatted about in whispers in drawing rooms for the next year. It was enough when it happened in the first place, the family doesn't need to re-live _that_ nightmare.”

Val ignored his brother. “I appreciate the offer, Lady Halwill, but I feel that my presence may cause you more harm than entertainment. I should hate to remind the ton of my existence so that they should have more reason to wag their tongues aside from the debauchery of our Viscount.” He shot Wendell a challenging glance and felt a tug of satisfaction when Wendell's cheeks gained a delightful angry red.

He gave a slight bow to the Viscountess before he left, content to overhear his brother muttering protestations against his usage of the word 'debauchery' as a descriptor. After gathering at least three books from the estate's library, he made his way across the lawn where the servants were busily setting up the tables and the games, rolling out targets for an archery tournament—a favorite past time of the Viscount and his friends. He shuffled through the grass toward the edge of a patch of woods, wandering along a decently cleared dirt path until he reached the quaint little cottage.

Perkins had made sure that the small quarters were always ready to be utilized, confessed to Val that he was glad of it sometimes to get him away from the extra company of the other servants. He much enjoyed the walk, even in the winter when the bitterly cold English winds made the trek a chore. The silence of the snow-coated trees was something he said he would forever treasure in his memories. He'd made sure that there was a fire in the hearth and a few oil lamps lit as the tree cover often made it dark inside during the day—the perfect conditions for which to endure a particularly horrific heat.

He had just made himself at home, using the small kitchen to brew himself some tea, when he heard a hideous scratching at the thick wooden door. He rolled his eyes and opened it to find Lily Anna and Julia holding back their giggles with a stick that rather looked like a gnarled hand held up as their instrument of terror.

“We are the monster of the woods who will come to _eat_ you, Uncle Val,” Julia growled, laughing even as she did so.

He leaned down. “How do you know _I'm_ not the monster in the woods, waiting for foolish little girls to come looking for me while they avoid their lessons?” Their mouths created perfect little “O” shapes. “On your way home, if you don't run, I'll capture you from behind and swallow you whole.”

Lily Anna created the perfect solution. “Then we shall simply not go home.”

Val chuckled. “I shall not hear of such a thing but perhaps you can befriend the beast by joining him for tea?”

The two of them gave him a synchronized curtsy and Lily Anna beamed up at him. “We shall be honored, Sir Beast.”

Although Iris was not with them this day, she sometimes came along and the three of them were often his only guests when he was away, their sentiments clearly connecting Val with the fairy-tale of small cottages set back in an enchanted forest. Fraught with over-active imagination, their uncle was only too happy to foster their sense of fantasy, much to their father's chagrin, of course. Today, they were eager not to relinquish the fancy that he was a terrible monster that was set to devour them.

“Perhaps,” Lily Anna suggested, “In order to remain in the monster's good graces, we should not leave before accepting some of his nourishment. Aside from tea,” she amended.

Even as he got up and drizzled some honey over biscuits, he grinned. “Oh little Lady Lily Anna, how terribly naïve of you. The fae will surely have their fill of you one day if you are to eat any of their offered snacks.” He turned around with the small platter of biscuits, placing it in front of the two girls seriously eying them but unable to keep his grin from one side of his mouth. “If you should ever step inside a fairy ring or fall through a pool in the forest, you should never eat what you are offered lest you be trapped forever.”

The two girls stared at the honeyed biscuits. Julia reached out and took one. “I shall love to be trapped here forever with you, Uncle Val.”

Lily Anna took one and sank her teeth into it. “I as well. Although tis a shame we could not bring Iris. Sir Beast, you must find her and bring her here. Else we shall never be truly happy.”

He moved around the small kitchen table and placed a soft kiss on her blonde locks. “I, as well, my dear.”

Julia sat back and put another biscuit in her mouth and turned to Lily Anna. “There are bound to be lots of guests coming this afternoon and tomorrow. We shall have to leave if we are to find what we need.”

“Oh quite right,” Lily Anna nodded. “Sir Beast, we shall have to go. We are on a valiant quest.”

“Oh?” he asked, sipping his tea while he sat across from the two girls. “And what is the objective of such a quest? It must be quite noble if I am to free you from my fairy land after you've eaten my honey and my biscuits.”

“It is _quite_ noble,” Lily Anna assured him in a serious tone, she and her sister sharing a severe nod.

“Pray tell me what it is and I shall decide its merit,” he chuckled.

“Simple,” Julia shrugged. “We are to find you a mate.”

Val choked on his tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be a fun one. Keep in mind that in this verse, my Alpha ladies are in possession of a rather male appendage.
> 
> To know more about my dynamics, visit my Fic Tumblr: [ J.D. Writes](https://jdwrites.tumblr.com/) for headcanons, explanations of my verse, and to just chat with me about fiction.


	2. Chapter 2

Halwill was a lovely estate, sprawling with a generous amount of wooded land, it boasted a large amount of game and a decently-sized lake that was well-stocked with fish for the avid sportsman that the Viscount was. Drew had never been much of a fan of hunting or fishing but when one wished to cultivate relationships among the gentlemen of the ton, one had to be able to prove proficient in such ventures. She was much more savvy in numbers, preferring to pour over ledgers and record books rather than frolic with the rest of the ton, her acceptance of invitations to balls and soirees stemming mostly from her rather recent necessity of finding a mate to produce an heir.

It was a trying affair to be sure but one she was casually enjoying. Having failed to procure an engagement during the season, she was content to attend the Halwill party for the simple reasoning that any desperate Omegas in their later seasons might be keen to procure a last-minute pen-pal with whom they could trade missives over the gap between the seasons. It was not entirely unheard of for an engagement to be fostered in such a way and Drew would be careful not to miss any hints from the available ladies as to their as yet unknown affections. After all, the reluctance of many to go through heats unnecessarily alone was a devil of a motivation to be married and Drew was careful to take advantage of the notion.

Her young valet, a slight-of-frame Beta by the name of Wylie, spoke in the small space of the coach on the way to the Halwill estate.

“Pity that you should not have captured that Mr. Hainsley.” His eyes closed and he leaned back in the seat. His youth made him sometimes careless in his speech to her but she did not mind, appreciating his candor. “A fine husband, he would have been. Very suitable.”

“Oh yes,” she mused, reflecting on the boy's nearly irresistible aroma, “but no matter.” She smiled wide to herself. “I am not so picky.”

“Ah,” Wylie scoffed, “Perhaps you should be more fastidious than you are, my Lady. You will find yourself with a blithering sop of a girl if you do not hold your standards. You are still young. No need to be hasty.”

She was inclined to agree with him but her mouth quirked to the side anyway. Her four younger sisters, all Betas, were expecting her to come back to Netherfield with a delightful little Omega on her arm that they insisted they wished to spoil with affection. They had all opted to skip this season for the sole purpose of allowing Drew to have the London house to herself in order to ease the process of finding a mate without the constant flittering of dresses and fans and the occasional feather. She had failed and in her next season would have to do with at least the two elder Idlewind Beta sisters attending with her, sharing her coach and crippling her chances of finding an Omega patient enough and open enough to contend with the curious and attentive siblings of a suitor. It was enough to make her hope that the viscountess Halwill had been gracious enough to invite plenty of unmatched Omegas along with the newly-weds and fiancees.

When they arrived at the estate, she was greeted by the small Lady Halwill who was renowned for her ability to bend even the most stubborn Alpha to her will and from the delicate pout of her lips and the graceful movement of her body, Drew had no issue in believing the claims. If only the tiny woman could have shown a willingness to play match-maker, Drew would have full faith in her abilities. After having been met, she and Wylie were shown to her room where she used a bit of time to freshen up, combing her hand through her short auburn hair that had been flattened by her hat and making certain that she looked the perfect “gentleman” for any Omegas that were going to be filtering in throughout the afternoon and evening.

There were already a few guests wandering through when she made her way downstairs about an hour before dinner was to be served. Unwilling to stand in a stuffy drawing room, she made her way outside where she found Halwill lounging in one of the chairs on the terrace, his pipe settled on his lip with the pleasant scent of tobacco wafting around him.

“Viscount,” she greeted warmly, smiling when he stood up, taking his pipe out of his mouth before giving her a slight bow.

“My Lady,” he said, offering her a seat. “Join me, please. I have been lacking in good company recently.”

She sat, casting her eyes over summer greens of the English countryside. “You have a lovely home. And your sisters?”

“They could not come,” he stated, tapping the ash from his pipe over the terrace railing and into the garden beside him. “They were in London but they do not like many parties. I cannot say I am surprised, they are happily married and have no need to attend.” He shrugged. “I am lucky they were so easily wed.”

Recalling Halwill's two Omega sisters, Drew nodded. “I assure you, luck was not the case. Rather their beauty, I am to be sure,” she told him. “It will take luck for my own sisters, I fear. They are beautiful but they are Betas and they are all extraordinarily tall. I fear we all carry the trait from my father.”

“Ah,” Halwill waived the notion away. “Fear not. There are plenty of sturdy Beta brothers who will take them well enough from your hands. I trust they do not strut about in trousers and waistcoats?” He raised a brow at the Earl and Drew felt a twinge of annoyance at his daring.

“If they had a care to, I would not stop them,” she quipped. “They seem partial to skirts, nevertheless.”

She was not unaware that there were plenty of peers and gentry who were unused to her status as an Earl even after having expected it for as long as her father had insisted on bequeathing his estate and his title to her. Female Alphas in the upper tiers were normally often misrepresented as Betas and were sat on the sidelines during seasons, relinquished into obscurity and many times traded between families with too many Omega offspring who required a loving and attentive mate who seemed unobtrusive and willing to add a balance of parentage. They were nearly always considered a burden and only in limited cases were able to take complete control over their destinies. Fortunately, there were blessedly few of them, their dynamic much easier to function within in the lower classes, their boisterous nature appealing to fanciful girls. The fact that Drew presented herself in men's clothes seemed to rub at some of the other peers but she paid them no mind, delighting in the way her appearance made her more noticeable for the small twittering groups of Omegas.

The match-making mothers had avoided attempting to couple their daughters or nieces with her only due to their perceptions of what an Alpha should have been, but as Drew knew, there was nothing that a man could do that she could not do just as easily and with a greater rate of success. That was...with the exception of finding an Omega to mate.

Halwill began to fill his pipe with fresh tobacco from a small tin he pulled from his jacket pocket. “Did you go to the wedding at Asterly?” he asked absentmindedly. “I did not, although I was invited.”

“Yes,” she smiled. “Although the pair did have to rush off. It seemed Lady Westbrooke planned the ceremony just a tad bit too late.” She chuckled as she related the tale. “I fair say the boy had every Alpha on the lawn sweating by the time the thing was over.”

“Ah,” Halwill grinned. “A strange match that was, too. Hadn't expected it at all. More so thought you might have had your eye on him.”

“I should be lucky to ever find another like him,” she said, her voice holding a small amount of wistfulness. “He was quite sweet. Did he respond to your invitation?”

“Asterly does not particularly enjoy my company,” he stated without sorrow, striking a match to light his pipe, puffing on it until it was to his liking. “I was quite partial to the young Mr. Hainsley being wed to Penberth. Or to you. Or...to anyone _else_. A wonder Westbrooke allowed the match at all.”

She shrugged one shoulder, certain that the Earl of Westbrooke was much wiser than Halwill seemed to believe. A servant came by and asked her if she would care for a brandy and she accepted gratefully. She would need it if she were to continue dealing with Halwill's subtle barbs.

From the french doors emerged a small girl in a ruffled pale blue dress, frilled with petticoats. She lacked shoes and her blonde hair was tied back from her face with a big ribbon that matched her dress. She ran to Halwill and immediately ducked under his chair, seeming to hide under him without much success, her bulky petticoats her undoing as her governess followed, appearing rather haggard.

“I apologize, my Lord,” the woman sighed. “They are having a trying day.”

Halwill grinned and gave a light chuckle. “I should say that _you_ may be the soul with the trying day. Write this one off, Miss Morris. There is too much excitement to expect them to sit still.” As the governess was dismissed, the viscount reached under his chair and took the back of the girl's dress in his large hand, dragging her out as she squeaked in surprise. “I say,” he noted, “Where have your manners flown, little Lady Iris? Wipe the dust off your face and give our guest a curtsy. A good one.”

She did as she was told, wiping her face with the back of her hand and giving a deep curtsy. “My Lord,” she murmured, her eyes meeting Drew's with their crystalline blue wide and searching. They were filled with confusion when she dropped her skirt and drew back, suddenly realizing her error. “Oh. But you...you are a...”

“An Earl,” Drew smiled. “You may call me Lord or Lady, whichever you prefer.”

She smirked, her finger at her bottom lip and her head tilted. Mischief shown in her eyes. “I have not decided.”

Drew leaned forward, lowering her voice and giving the little one a wink. “To be completely honest with you, Lady Iris, neither have I.”

With that, the girl was gone, slapping her bare feet down the stone steps of the stairs and taking one last glance back to Drew before she bolted off across the lawn toward the line of the woods. She disappeared into a break in the trees, her white petticoats flashing before she vanished. Drew couldn't help but smile at the girl's obvious favor toward her mother's features, taking only her impossibly blue eyes from her father.

Halwill sniffed. “Wily and willful,” he said with a trace of affection. “There are three of them and apart they are mere sparks. Together...” he rolled his eyes. “They are lightning.”

Drew took a sip of her brandy, considering how much a joy it must have been to have such little girls. “They must be a light in the dark.”

“Oh yes,” the Viscount laughed. “Take care you do not provoke them, my Lady. You shall find yourself struck."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone else is in love because I sure am.
> 
> Digging it? Not quite? Tell me about it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

The plate of biscuits was nearly finished before the door opened without any knock and the littlest blonde scampered her way in, climbing up onto the edge of Julia's chair and grasping one, paying no heed to the sticky honey that was drizzled over it. She stuffed it into her face and munched it, oblivious to the way Val was staring at the three of them in disbelief.

“I am trying to impress upon you two that I am perfectly suited to being alone. I am twenty-nine years old, little ones, I do not need help finding a mate.”

Lily Anna's tone with him was explanatory, “Uncle Val, you should have found a mate during your seasons. By the time we can take you and try to find you an Alpha, you'll be old and wrinkled! We have to find you one now. It is only logical.”

Val's disbelief culminated in a strange laugh, “You are seven, what know you of logic?”

“Mama is an Omega like you. Papa is her Alpha. Simple. If we want a baby, we find you an Alpha.” Lily Anna turned to Julia and Iris, nodding and expecting the nods that came in return. “You clearly cannot find one by yourself.”

He had entirely forgotten his tea. “And how is this? I have not been looking for one.”

“Precisely,” Julia piped up. “You've been hiding.”

Val stood up, pouring himself more tea. “Listen, pups, finding a mate is much more complex than it seems. Especially for me.” A hollow feeling started to open up in his chest and he took a deep breath with his tea cup in his fingers while he turned away from them to look out the window over the wash basin. The forest was serene and dark and birds flitted through the trees. He steadied his hand and turned back around. “There are many things about me that an Alpha should be unprepared to deal with.”

“Nonsense,” Lily Anna claimed, sipping her own tea. “Any Alpha worth their title should be blessed to even lay eyes upon you.”

“That's right,” Julia cried, her tea cup clattering on the saucer as Iris bumped her with an elbow.

Val snickered, “You three are entirely biased toward my cause. I cannot stress enough that you should not be foolish enough to play match-maker.”

“We shall just _look_ ,” Lily Anna insisted. The flash of those violet eyes betrayed her.

Val felt himself give a very put-upon sigh, his eyes settling on the littlest Lady sitting at his small table. She had polished off the biscuits and was licking her lips waiting for Val to pour her a cup of tea which he did, placing it in front of her where she blew on it despite it already being at a drinkable temperature. “I wish you three would just _listen_ to me when I tell you not to do this.”

Julia rolled her eyes. “Uncle Val, you're _impossible_.”

He laughed, recognizing the phrase that Georgette used to describe the Viscount. “That is my point. Impossible. How do you expect an Alpha to deal with me? They cannot even deal with themselves most of the time.”

The three girls shared a few glances with comical grimaces that proved they at least agreed with him about that one item. After this, they finished their tea and thankfully the conversation was considered over and Val ushered them out with the threat that he would start reading to them from Voltaire. The end of that particular conversation did not necessarily mean the end of the threat, he knew, and he hoped the girls would come to their senses—ha!—before they could do any true damage. With any luck, they would not find any Alphas they considered suitable anyway and he should be safe. Aside from that, he should be careful not to open the door unless he was sure whomever was knocking was under six stone. Still. A week of paranoia had not been one of his fantasies for the time he was to spend in his secluded space.

He stared out the window over the wash basin again, leaning forward and letting his mind click over everything the girls had said. By the time Lily Anna was old enough to go to a season, he would have been eight and thirty. Not too terribly old, he thought. Certainly not old and wrinkled, that was for certain. Too old for a mate, but then again, he was too old for most mates as he was, being twenty-nine. He was far past the typical age and he was far past any hope.

His fingers came up to rub at his collar toward the back of his neck, gently brushing the fabric before he put his hand down again and willed it to stay there. There had been too much that had gone wrong for him to have found a mate during his own seasons. If only everything hadn't fallen apart so quickly. Maybe if he hadn't been so damned young and reckless.

_If I hadn't done a lot of things._

He wanted to lay down and pull the covers over his head for a while but he knew that if he did that, he would start thinking about how much better things could be if there had been someone in the bed with him. Of course, he'd thought about lovers every so often. Even some of his brother's friends who remembered him had asked him a few times if he would have liked some assistance during his heats. He remembered that on occasion, he had thought that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to take one of them up on the offer, if only just to have that need filled just one more time. He'd never done it in the end. The Viscount's friends could never be more than just his lover and despite what his rationalizations would have said about the matter—he would have yearned for more. He truly _was_ impossible. There was no confusion about that.

With the next knock on his door, he had to amend his rule of no visitors above six stone. Perkins was most definitely not allowed under those restrictions but the valet, perhaps, could be one exception. Val was snickering to himself while Perkins brought him some of the dinner that the guests were being served.

The valet tossed him a knowing grin. “The little Ladies seem to not be hungry for their supper this evening and Lady Iris has arrived back at the manor with honey on her dress.”

“Ah,” Val smiled, “I am in trouble then for spoiling their appetites.” He strolled toward the hearth and looked down into the flames. “One does not become the favorite uncle by allowing one's nieces to go home without having consumed an entire platter of biscuits.”

Perkins chuckled. “Perhaps not so much honey and Georgette will not deduce that it was you who spoiled her daughters?”

Val scoffed. “Who _else_ would it have been?”

“Well,” Perkins shrugged one shoulder. “They only have _one_ uncle.”

He put his hand up and leaned on the mantle, giving out a sigh. It was true. They only had one. If he hadn't been such a little fool when he was younger, perhaps they could have had two. He fumbled with his words. “The girls are...plotting.”

Perkins was still chuckling. “From the moment they were born, yes.”

He grinned over his shoulder at the cheeky valet. “I mean to say that they are plotting about _me._ I need you to stop them from doing any damage.”

His valet was tidying up his kitchen, wiping up the counters and straightening. He took off his gloves and started washing the tea cups that the girls had set by the basin. “What kind of damage are they willing upon you? They just got biscuits and honey from you, they should be quite satisfied with how they've wrapped you around their little fingers.”

“They want to find me a mate and their intention is to do it at this party. I don't want to turn around and find Alphas knocking on my door. I do not even wish anyone to know I exist, much less that I am...” He paused and then shrugged. “You know what I am.”

Perkins sighed through his nose—a common and very valet thing to do—and dried his hands, crossing the room and gently turning Val around by gripping his elbow. He had a very gentle voice and with the gray in his hair and the tenderness in his eyes, it was so easy for Val to imagine him as a better father than his own. “You are a quite handsome young man who has, in the past, been unlucky.”

“Unlucky,” he snorted. “Foolish.”

Perkins tightened his grip on Val's elbow. “It was not your fault.”

“We've had this discussion,” he muttered. “All I am asking that you do is make sure the girls do not send me every available Alpha who's sniffing out an Omega. I have no interest in attempting to explain myself to some arrogant man who feels he has something to prove.” He walked to the door. “I am not some damsel who is in need of rescue. Excuse me, Perkins. I believe I will take a walk. My supper shall keep.”

He felt the cool breeze blow through his hair, whipping through his short black locks while it rolled over the fields. He wanted to get rid of that tight sensation in his chest—that old anger and hurt that welled up every so often when he had these bouts of remembrance. He could only hope that Perkins would do everything in his power to curb the plot that the girls were forming although the three of them were often much too tenacious to settle for the retirement of an untried venture. He mumbled to himself as he walked, trying to think of different ways to defuse a situation in which an Alpha stumbled over his woodland cottage. He hadn't yet had to do anything of the sort and his presence was mostly the reason why Wendell never had any scavenger hunting games at his parties. The threat of an Alpha running into a lone Omega in the woods with the assumption that the former was perhaps not of honorable stock—it was enough to make Val's skin crawl with goose flesh.

It was not that the girls' intentions were not honorable but they were children and their judgment was suspect at best. How could he know that they were not to simply find every unclaimed Alpha and tell them that their uncle required a mate? With the distinct lack of available Omega males in their ranks, it was inevitable that the prospect of having him was going to become utterly irresistible for any they told. Of course... He stopped walking, stomping his foot into the soft grass. He was not so desirable. He was an object of curiosity and lust, no doubt, but he was not _suitable_ for more than a fling or an affair.

He should rather cut his own throat than fall in love again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh poor Val and his broken heart.


	4. Chapter 4

As not all of the guests were to arrive that evening, the dining room was only about half-filled and to Drew's dismay, there were only two unmatched Omegas present and she was not sat next to either of them. The first was the lovely but terribly young Miss Habersham who was wearing a lovely light periwinkle shade with the bodice cut low despite her relatively small bosom which she had attempted to bolster with the tautness of her corset. Unfortunately, such an effort had its effect on young ladies who strove for it and she was in apparent pain and unable to eat most of her supper. Drew almost couldn't bear to watch her trying to breathe in those shallow sips of air. The second Omega present was a girl with curves to spare. She was quite pretty but she'd developed her reputation as an unapologetic flirt and she was too preoccupied with the available gentlemen present to notice Drew as a potential mate. As the numbers were clearly not even and Drew was nearly unnoticeable by the only two Omegas, she was resigned to leaning against the archway of the drawing room after supper with her brandy in her hand while the engaged and married couples performed duets on the piano forte.

The night had been, in her opinion, a considerable waste. Her time had been monopolized by useless conversation at dinner with happy giddy couples who were discussing things like what they wanted to name their children and whether they were hoping for girls or boys. She fielded the usual light questions dancing around her title and her dynamic but most of the time the focus was on the couples, as was the entire point of the get-together, she supposed. It was honestly rather sickening when she thought about it and perhaps she should have been considering cutting the matter short. Leaving a few days early wouldn't be the worst thing she could have done.

As another couple sat down to the piano forte, something caught her eye outside the drawing room. A flash of white down the dim hall lit by oil lamps. With her sharp eyes, she noted another flash, this time with a glint of blonde.

_The girls._

From what Drew could tell, the three of them were probably sneaking off to the kitchens to beg some cake from the staff. She imagined that with the three of them all together, it was hard for the servants not to give in. Curious, she glanced into the drawing room before she determined that not a soul would even notice she was gone before she crept into the hall and peeked down the side hallway where the girls had gone. Grinning to herself, she moved silently, her ears pricked for anything that would give the girls away, finally catching onto those tell-tale giggles and whispers that had often betrayed her own sisters when they were up to no good.

They were hidden in a small parlor that was perhaps made for their use and they had carelessly left the door just a slight bit ajar. Drew peered in but could not catch sight of them though their voices were clearly distinguishable.

“There are not so many without an Omega but that is no matter. We should only need one.”

“Yes,” claimed another voice. “One shall be sufficient.”

There was a small sigh. “But how shall we know which to choose?”

A long pause followed while they pondered the question and Drew almost found herself chuckling, smiling madly at the idea of catching them in the midst of a plot.

“This is simple, what am I thinking? Uncle Val said what he wanted. Someone who loves to read.”

“And will sit to be painted,” the young one added seriously.

The smallest voice piped up. “Who has hair.”

“Silly Iris, not who _has_ hair, although I imagine that could be a benefit. Someone who will put their fingers through _his_ hair. And he must love poetry.” There was another pause, this time not so long. “But where shall we ever find an Alpha like _that_? He truly is impossible.”

_Those little match-makers._

Drew could have barked out a laugh but felt her brows come downward while her eyes narrowed toward the doorknob. They were discussing finding a mate for an Omega uncle. But they were Halwill's daughters and Halwill only had two Omega _sisters_. She had heard nothing of a brother and there were no male Omegas present. She hadn't even caught a whiff of any errant Omega scents that did not have a clear source.

A soft thud from down the hall back toward the drawing room jolted Drew out of her puzzling and she quickly but quietly extracted herself from beside the parlor door, silently moving again back toward the drawing room. Rounding the corner into the previous hallway, she found Miss Habersham alone and crumpled. She was still on her feet but she was leaning heavily against the wall, giving out soft quick gasps. Her eyes were wide and frightened at the sight of Drew's tall frame and she shook her head, putting up one weak hand as if to try to ward off any kind of lustful attack.

Drew rolled her eyes and moved quickly, pushing Miss Habersham's hand aside so she could take the young lady and swiftly spin her around. With quick and dexterous finger work that came from having a cluster of sisters, she unbuttoned all the fasteners at the back of the girl's dress until she was able to expose the laces of the offending garment. She leaned forward, whispering into the girl's ear without getting close enough to be considered improper.

“I am quite sorry for your ribbons, Miss Habersham, but I shall spare the expense for your comfort.”

With that said, she tore through the damned things easily with the strength that Alphas were commonly bestowed. The ribbon made a slight popping sound with every lacing that was destroyed and Miss Habersham swooped in hard gasps while her hands came out to the wall to steady herself. With the task finished, Drew quickly refastened the back of the girl's dress.

“A girl of your slight frame needs no assistance to become smaller. Do not harm yourself for the want of a mate, little Miss.” She made sure the girl could stand on her own and met her eyes when she turned around, anxiety filling her soft Omega scent. “Do not fear me, Miss. You are perfectly safe. All the same, I suggest you find your way back to the drawing room so you are not walked up upon in such a place.”

Her pink lower lip trembled and she whispered her “Thank you, my Lady” before she drew herself up and tried to calmly wander back into the drawing room as if nothing untoward had just happened to her.

Drew lingered in the hallway for a little bit, contemplating the sweet fragrance of the pretty little miss who could only have been around sixteen, maybe seventeen. She'd been close enough, she thought, to get a decent scent but once Drew had found herself spoiled by Mr. Hainsley's aroma, she couldn't seem to get that same shuddering pleasure from any of the available debutantes. A small shiff of sound turned her head to the side and she found three sets of wide eyes staring at her from around the corner, a pile of blonde and lace with expressions ranging from wonder to cold calculative thought. Before she could address them or even move, they were gone, their bare feet making muted patters down the hall as they fled.

When she saw them again, she was sitting on the terrace after breakfast and the three of them were being paraded by their governess in their nice dresses, forced to curtsy to every grouping of guests, more of which were arriving by the minute. Drew had managed to miss the procession and was content to scan through the guests searching for this mysterious creature that the girls had been discussing in the parlor the previous night. She was almost inclined to pose the question to the Viscount but a stray thought had stopped her. Perhaps the Viscount did not speak of his brother because he had reason not to. It was not so unusual for these types of families to have secrets. Simply because Drew's family had nothing to hide and faced issues through sheer hard will did not mean that others did the same. There were plenty of families who had illegitimate sons or daughters who were hidden in the country, patriarchs who were ingrained in blackmail or affairs, or even poor souls of feeble mind who were kept in secretive parts of their manor houses and never mentioned to the ton.

It was quite likely that the Viscount may have had a half-brother or one of dubious legitimacy that he felt an obligation toward but whom was not particularly welcome at his gatherings. Her speculations for a moment settled on the idea that the Omega in question was overly disagreeable but the notion quickly passed when her eyes caught the trio of girls again. The girls would surely not conspire to find a mate for an uncle who was entirely mean-spirited.

Eventually, the girls were released by the their handler and they made their way as a group to a table of snacks, predictably picking out their favorites before they put their heads together. With a jolt of apprehension, Drew saw the three of their pop their heads up and look straight over at her before they ducked back together again. She narrowed her eyes at them while they all split up, roaming through the groups of people, munching on their little squares of cheese and fruit while they went, brushing between guests discreetly in an aimless pattern that Drew immediately recognized. The two youngest were short enough that they many times did not have to duck though if they did, they did not have to explain it, as they were children.

They were _scenting_.

She laughed to herself, chuckling at the ingenuity of children. They were carefully brushing their noses near the wrists of the unmated Alphas and they had very carefully directed their plan of attack so they could do so for maximum effect. The only unmated Alpha who was not standing in the lawn was _herself._ She did not move to get up, careful to watch them until they came together again, making sure they did not see that she had one eye upon them when they flipped their heads toward her again. They stood there, chatting for a long time before the eldest seemed to come to a determination and led the other two to the side of the garden where they kicked off their shoes and they all strode across the grass in their bare feet to the steps of the terrace, clearly intent on introducing themselves.

Drew leaned back as they approached her, keeping one of her wrists in her lap and the other near her face as she leaned her cheek on two of her fingers with her elbow on the armrest. “Ladies,” she greeted in her most Lord-like tone.

The three of them curtsied deeply and simultaneously. The eldest stepped forward, her expression of determination set.

“Iris says you are either a Lord or a Lady. You are an Alpha.”

Drew smirked. “I am. You seem to be looking for one.”

Her tiny shoulders jerked and her cheeks grew pink as she realized their plan had been observed. She recovered easily enough. “We are very particular.”

“To what end?” Drew asked, curious to know if the girls would reveal it.

The three of them exchanged glances, their lower lips sucked into their mouths. The eldest chose to speak again, the boldest of the trio. “We are not to say until we have found one who is not so...” she grimaced, “offensive.”

“And with me, you attempt a direct approach?”

The second oldest piped up. “You are quite honorable. Last night, in the hall. With the Miss who could not breathe. You surely should know that we mean no harm by it.”

Drew leaned forward, steadying her narrowed gaze on the lot of them and lowering her voice. “You three are attempting to make a match. Has it occurred to you that if one wished to make a match, they should be perhaps doing it themselves?”

Little Lady Iris gave a labored sigh. “He is _impossible_.”

“Who is?” Drew couldn't hold back her small smile of amusement.

The eldest spoke, glancing at Iris with vehemence. “Nobody. We are not to say. That is until we find an Alpha who seems suitable enough. We cannot accept anyone who shall make everything stink horribly.”

“And you want to make certain that I do not not wrinkle your pretty little noses before you cast me upon this unsuspecting Omega who clearly does not wish to be bothered by your meddling?” She let herself have a chuckle. “Have you told him of your intentions?”

“Of course we have, and we have been soundly lectured already. You may save yours.”

“Ah,” Drew laughed. “Your father was not wrong when he called you all wily and willful.” She lifted her arm and presented her wrist. “Take your fill of me, little ones. I have no doubt you'll find that your noses shall have no affinity for any Alpha.” The three of them approached and the eldest gently moved the hem of her glove, their noses a decent distance from her scent gland when they took a deep breath of her. Letting her go, they looked up at her with their mouths tucked into pursed expressions. When Drew pulled her wrist back to her lap, she snickered. “Until you have presented, you will find no Alpha's scent you particularly care for.”

“Well,” the middle child stated, “You _do_ smell different. And not so disagreeable.”

The eldest looked down at the smallest, Iris, and tilted her head at her for her determination. When Iris nodded and rubbed at her nose, the eldest gave a decisive sniff and looked at Drew with importance. “Should you choose to meet him, we will help you. But you must like to read.”

“I do.”

“And you must be able to sit still to be painted.”

“If need requires.”

Iris blurted, “And you have to have hair.”

The second eldest sighed. “She means that you have to like poetry.”

“I am partial to it in the evenings.”

Iris again: “Even Voltaire?”

Drew laughed. “Especially Voltaire.”

They gave each other another set of glances and then the eldest made shrug. “You shall probably suit him. He always takes a walk along the south fields on the other side of the woods after he has his lunch. There is a stone wall that he will usually hide behind to take a nap if it is warm.” She glanced about her shoulders. “He takes his lunch at half-past noon and usually leaves by one o'clock.”

“And he is always such a creature of habit?” she asked, her grin from ear to ear.

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Always.”

Drew leaned back in her seat. “Perhaps I do not go to see him. Then what say you?”

The two elder children both gained a narrowed expression that held no small amount of ire. They didn't have anything to say about it but their irritation was pronounced enough that it did not have to be worded.

“Alright,” Drew chuckled. “Alright. I will give him a look. But if he is not suitable for me then I shall forbid you to match him without his knowledge again. If I hear of it, I shall be certain that your father knows exactly what kind of dastardly plot you've been devising for this poor Omega.” She gave each of them a dangerous stare, surprised when they met her with smug satisfaction instead of fear. They were clearly confident that she was about to be completely besotted.

In a manner, she almost hoped they were right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch yourself, Drew. Those kids have reason to be smug.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for their comments and kudos so far. If you think of anything you wanna say, questions, concerns, statements about characters, literally anything, be sure to leave me a comment. You know I love 'em.


	5. Chapter 5

It was not difficult for her to keep herself out of any stray traps of conversation after the lunch served at noon and she kept an eye focused on the lawn and on the woods to the south of the house until one. She hadn't noticed anyone sneaking off and was sure that perhaps this Omega of which the girls spoke was merely a fantasy. She had one thought that the fickle little girls might have simply been tricking her to get her to wander off far afield as a prank. She was just about to begin her escape attempt when she was flanked to the right by Lady Halwill who unobtrusively smiled at her where she stood to the side on the lawn.

“The weather has been so kind to us, has it not, Lady Netherfield?”

“Quite,” she smiled politely. “I was just thinking of taking a walk actually.”

“Oh do. The estate is quite lovely this time of year and the clover blooms beautifully.” Her hazel eyes were shining and light while she smiled, happy that her party was already considered a success.

“I did have a rather odd question, my Lady,” Drew said, clearing her throat.

“That is?”

She hemmed a bit before she shifted her weight from one foot to another. “I was wondering if you might have a brother.”

The delicate Omega gave a tiny shake of her head. “Oh no. I was never blessed. Why do you ask?”

She lifted her shoulders. “I very rudely eavesdropped on your daughters to hear them discussing an uncle and, forgive me, I had no knowledge of one. Lord Halwill has _sisters_.”

Lady Halwill smiled dolefully. “Lord Halwill does, indeed, have one brother, next to him in age. He is of a shy sort and prefers to be alone.”

“I see,” Drew murmured, gently extracting herself and wandering to the western edge of the lawn before veering to the south toward a natural break in the trees. At least she knew now that the man was not a myth and was indeed a living and breathing individual. It was enough. She was curious and willing to take the risk. She crept through the trees and when she reached the other side, she found herself in a field of purple clover that, true to the girls' word, was cut by a stone fence that crossed it diagonally. Careful to stand downwind as much as possible, she crossed the field, her nose combing the air as it blew from the stone. She reached the wall and passed her eyes down the length of it before she quietly climbed atop it and gave a quick gasp when she found him immediately to her right.

She put a hand to her chest to calm her heart of its surprise to find his sleeping form, his head and shoulders placed upon a thick folded wool blanket and his fingers laced over his flat stomach. She sat on the wall near him and examined his luxuriant beauty, drinking in his shining blue-black hair and the way his very faint freckles decorated his attractively high cheekbones. He was not in a waistcoat and lacked a cravat, the collar of his shirt gaping open just slightly, revealing the most luscious pale throat and collarbone she thought she had ever beheld. If Mr. Hainsley had been the most delicious man in England, she was to be sure that if she were to bury her nose into that supple flesh, she should have found him to be the most delectable man in the world. She found herself so utterly stunned by him that it suddenly dawned on her that if she were to have him, he should not wake up to find her looming over him. In fact, he should not find her there _at all_.

With a quickness and grace she held well enough at hand, she pulled herself to the other side of the wall again before she tugged at the fingers of her white kid glove until it came off. She set it quite deliberately on the top of the stone where she was certain he should see it once he awoke from his nap amongst the clover. The task at hand finished and her heart pounding in her chest, she walked quickly back to the woods and made her way to the manor house, her mind still rolling over the perfection of his features and the way his chest gently rose and fell with every breath.

She placed her hands in her pockets and strolled toward the french doors leading in from the terrace, intent on going to her room to get another pair of gloves as not to be caught without one. The girls stopped her just outside, obviously curious as to her adventure, their confusion blooming in their eyes as Drew realized they had expected her to have been gone for much longer a time. She let them have a little smirk which only succeeded in confusing them even more before she walked the rest of the way up to her room, replacing her gloves before she came back down again to find that they had not moved from the terrace.

Ignoring them, she tapped her way down the steps and picked out a chair set away from the rest of the group who were watching the first round of an archery match. Predictably, she found herself surrounded in short order. She laced her fingers and set her hands on her lap. “You know, I daresay I have not gotten most of your names. Iris is the smallest of you but...?”

“Lily Anna,” claimed the tallest.

“Julia,” came the second.

“Iris!” squeaked the third, obviously used to saying it.

“Well,” she smiled, “I am Drew. Although in front of the rest of the gentry, I am Lady Netherfield.”

“Or Lord,” added Iris, who was munching on a wedge of cheese that she had had hidden somewhere in her dress.

“And what about Uncle Val?” Lily Anna pressed. “You _did_ see him, did you not? Do you not think him suited to you?”

Oh Drew thought he was _perfectly_ suited for her, that was no question. The fact remained that although he was aware of the plot to match him, he was also known to be avidly against it and that fact was quite curious indeed. Why an Omega with such incredible beauty would ever resign himself to be alone for so long, suffering through the madness of solitary heats willingly—it was a puzzling question indeed and perhaps not one that the children would have been able to answer.

“I did,” she stated, the girls all letting go of sighs at once. “He is most certainly attractive.”

“Attractive enough for a mate?”

She grinned. “Little ones, a mate is a bit more complex than simply being beautiful.”

Lily Anna narrowed her eyes. “He was not even awake, was he? You did not even speak to him. You did not wake him? How are you ever going to know how lovely he is if you do not talk to him? Why are all of you so stubborn about getting married?”

Julia leaned on the armrest opposite of Lily Anna and laid her head on her arms, staring up at Drew. “You are quite beautiful yourself, my Lady. You and Uncle Val will make comely children. Tell me how you got to wear trousers. I should very much like to wear trousers. T'would be preferable to all these horrible petticoats.”

Drew addressed Julia first. “Perhaps if you present as an Alpha, you should be able to convince your father to allow you to travel to a London tailor with him.” She then turned to Lily Anna. “We are not so stubborn about getting married, I assure you but one must not be caught looming over a vulnerable Omega while he is sleeping. Fear not, my love, if he wishes, he has all he needs to find me.”

Lily Anna slapped her hands to her face and pulled down with an unladylike moan. “But my Lady, he will _not_ find you. Not by himself. He is like a stubborn horse!”

Drew laughed out loud. “Then I suppose you three have some work to do, do you not? I will not be the only one pulling on the reins. I already stated I find him attractive. If you were to have him approach me, I should not turn him down.”

_To the contrary, it may be difficult for me not to lick him from top to bottom._

Lily Anna gave a little “humpf” before she stormed off with Iris trailing behind her, a vision of fury in lace. Julia stayed behind, staring with hazel eyes like her mother at Drew without paying any mind to her sister. Her voice was quiet and demure. “You shall like him. He is not like a horse, like Lily Anna says.”

“No?” Drew replied in a murmur.

“No. He is like a flower. He needs the sun for him to open.”

She smiled. “Then we shall not force him.”

Julia shook her head, standing up straight and giving a small curtsy. “My Lady.”

“Wait,” she asked, putting up her hand to stop the little one from dashing off. When Julia appeared settled again, she asked the burning question. “Tell me, Lady Julia, why do you think your Uncle does not wish to be married?”

She shrugged. “He has always been like this. Since before Lily Anna was born, I think. Much longer than me. He very much likes his books and his painting and his long walks.” She leaned forward, whispering very softly. “I think he is quite lonely, my Lady, though he would only say so to Perkins, if he were.” She nodded to a gray haired man who Drew suddenly noticed had his sharp eyes focused directly on the two of them. Julia must have noticed as well because she pulled her lip into her mouth and then grimaced. “I do believe we shall be getting a bit of another lecture if he were to catch us. I must go, my Lady. Please do not forget about Uncle Val.” She quickly ran through the grass around the side of the manor house, leaving Drew alone to watch the rest of the archery tournament—a spectacle that held no great importance.

She knew that Perkins would corner her eventually that day, she simply had not predicted when or how he was to do it. She almost let him do it, lingering on the terrace while the rest of the group wandered in to be settled for supper. He was standing by the french doors and he cleared his throat when she approached them, drawing her attention.

“My Lady,” he said with a heavy bow. “I understand this is impertinent but I have been instructed to interfere with any charms that the girls have set upon you and insist that you do not go prodding into delicate matters.”

Drew smiled. “And this is you insisting?”

Perkins couldn't help a grin. “My Lady, as much as it would make me an extremely happy man, I cannot go against Mr. Elridge's wishes. He was very clear that he should not like to be bothered and has specifically enlisted me to prevent it.”

She glanced into the doors and determined that the two of them were perfectly alone. “Lady Julia believes that he should have told you if he is lonely. Is he?”

“Irrelevant, my Lady.”

“You do know that the nature of an Alpha is to push harder when told a matter is impossible, do you not?”

Perkins snickered, his grin even wider and his eyes taking on a wise gleam. “My Lady, I am not only aware of it, I am _counting_ on it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drew, you absolute creep.


	6. Chapter 6

The glove was sitting on the counter where Val could look at it without having it in front of him where he sat at the table. He was staring at it blankly while his tea cooled in the cup before him, very nearly forgotten as he stumbled over in his memory how it had come to be placed there. It was a dream, he thought, made of soft white kid and smelling of the most handsome of Alphas. He had awoken from a lovely and peaceful dream only to stand up and have his heart fair leap straight into his throat. He could have fainted, he'd been so horribly shocked by it. He'd almost been afraid to touch it, having searched needlessly for a hidden Alpha laying in wait who would pounce should he dare to touch the item. His curiosity had won, in the end, and he had brought it to his nose only to find that it held a scent that was so terrifically intoxicating and rousing that he thought he could still feel the tingles in his toes. Even just the memory of having done so was giving him small flickers of excitement in his belly.

It could very well have simply been the fact that he'd been so far removed from Alphas that the scent of any of them could have sent him into a tizzy but even Wendell's friends and their scents could not excite him the way this fragrance did. Even the unobtrusive presence of such a small article of clothing was enough for him to sense it in the tiny space of the cottage, teasing him with that cloying and heady aroma. Ignoring his tea, he found himself watching the prostrate white kid where it sat on the counter while his palm gently rasped over the crotch of his trousers, pressing against that hard frustration while his teeth chattered in his trembling jaw.

_You've never been like this before. Why now?_

He drew his hand away from himself and dropped his head to the table, banging it hard and letting it sit there against the wood. The Alpha had to have come upon him while he was sleeping. He must have watched him sleep and, of course, being as cocky as they are, left his glove with the intent to entice Val into seeking him out.

_It won't work. I will not be coming to any Alpha._

He gritted his teeth and banged his head on the table again before he got up suddenly, his chair stuttering along the floor behind him. He slammed the door shut between the kitchen and the bedchamber and he threw himself into his bed, burying his face into his own pillow before he pushed his hand between the mattress and his body, unfastening his trousers and arranging himself until he could hold himself in his hand, stroking and sighing and writhing his hips until he found a trembled release. He sat up and looked down at the white over his palm and felt as if it had been a rational decision. He should be much more clear headed after having done so, he thought.

Tucking himself back together and cleaning up, he didn't go back into the kitchen. Despite his new-found clear-headedness, he knew that if he were to go back into the other room, the wave of it would hit him again and he would lose his sense. There had been no Alpha in his life that had smelled so appetizing.

_Not even Bentley._

He gave a desperate gasp at the sudden and intrusive thought and covered his mouth with his hands, a sudden and debilitating pain in his chest sending him reeling against the bed. He let go of hard sobs, twisting his body until he could stifle the ugly loud sounds that came from his body into his pillows. It hit him over and over again in waves, the fresh pain familiar albeit unexpected, rocking him into screaming sobs that would not let him go until he had shed every tear his body could spare for the moment. His fist was against his chest and he was tightly curled, eyes wet and staring at the folds of his pillow when Perkin's found him as he was bringing him supper.

That warm and calming touch that brushed through his hair brought him back from the river of emotion that had swept him away. Perkins sat atop the bed and brought his legs up, his back propped on the headboard so his hip and thigh were flush against Val's curled back and his hand was comfortably positioned to caress the side of his head. Val could only vaguely recall that he'd been in this bed for hours, inhabiting this body and existing as a corporal being. The woods were normally dark but the sun was beginning to set. Perkins had lit the lamps and turned them up. He had presumably also stoked the fire in the hearth. Val sniffed and slowly let his fingers over his heart unclench, reaching up and taking the gentle hand that was tenderly petting his hair. He held tight, unwilling to allow the valet to leave until he was completely finished.

He turned his head toward the mattress and sobbed quietly, his breaths coming in shuddering and staggered paces while his valet held his hand tightly, his gentle thumb passing over the backs of Val's fingers to keep him grounded in reality. To keep him from falling into the pit of his memories. Perkins had been through it before. He was used to it by now. It had been over two years since he'd fallen into an episode with such intensity and the unanticipated nature of it had Val reeling. Perkins, it seemed, was unmoved, taking the incident in stride much like he took everything that happened in the manor house. When his racking sobs left him and he had been laying quietly for a time, Perkins spoke to him in a placid tone.

“I shall make you some fresh tea, Valentine. You've let yours go cold.” He did not make a move, knowing not to until Val made one first. When the Omega finally lifted his head as though he were lifting himself from his grave, Perkins squeezed his fingers once more before he got up off the bed and helped Val to the kitchen table.

His stuffy nose couldn't scent what he knew was there when he noticed the white kid glove still sitting on his counter. His voice was raspy and strained when he spoke to his valet, letting at least one more tear fall as he sat stiffly in his chair. “I should...I should have you throw that blasted thing in the fire.”

The backs of Perkins's fingers brushed Val's cheek, dragging away his errant tear as he passed by with the kettle. “I daresay I couldn't perform such a travesty, dear Valentine. She is too precious for such an affront.”

“She?” Val looked at Perkins with his brows flicking together.

His valet did not look at him. “Your nieces have honed in on the Earl of Netherfield. A quite elegant and, may I say, dazzling woman. I've never seen a titled woman before but she is handsome, Valentine, absolutely staggeringly beautiful and,” he sighed, “she seems very kind.”

He scoffed. “If she is an Alpha, kindness can only extend so far. Tell me you've intervened.”

“I have.”

Val couldn't tell why the news of Perkins's intervention put a throb in his chest again and he took in a soft broken gasp.

“I suggest,” Perkins continued, “That you do not turn her away.”

“I thought you said you already—”

“She is an _Alpha_ , Valentine. There is nothing I could say or do that would make her stop thinking about you. Lady Julia managed to tell her that you are lonely and that has plucked at her heartstrings. She has a natural instinctual draw to alleviate your pains and looking upon you does not help your cause—if you have not noticed, dear one, you are _exquisitely_ attractive. It is a wonder she was able to merely leave you her scent rather than ravish you where you lay.”

When the tea was set down in front of him, he looked at it solemnly, unable to determine what he wanted to do. Of course, the first step was always to drink the tea. He picked it up and cooled it before he took light sips. Simple and yet divine, he sipped until it was half gone and then set it back down on the saucer, wiping at his red-rimmed puffy eyes. He was certain that a dalliance with this Earl of Netherfield should be the death of him if it were to go poorly. He should throw himself from the highest of cliffs into the ocean if his heart were to be broken any more than it already had been.

_How could it get any worse than it is?_

He was forced to pause for the thought. That was right, in any case. How could anyone hurt him worse than he'd already been? Everything that could have been taken from him had already been stripped away. Every bit of peace and hope and innocence was already gone.

“I...” he started, drawing Perkins's attention. He looked up at his valet and stated, “I've got nothing left to lose.”

The valet disappeared into the bedchamber for a moment before he came out with a cravat, laying the folded strip of linen down on the table next to Val's tea. “Scent it. I will deliver it to her. You should also write her a small note. Then, if she is so inclined, she can answer it. Alphas love these little games of cat and mouse and it will be a good distraction for you.”

“And if it all goes horribly wrong?”

Perkins sighed while he brought over a small bit of parchment with a pen and some ink. “Then you continue on with your life such as it is with your nieces, your cottage, and your long-suffering valet.”

Even as he was tentatively distributing his scent onto the clean fabric, he scowled at Perkins. “I told you to stop this nonsense and here you are perpetuating it.”

The graying servant barked a laugh, “If you had cast your eyes upon this Earl, Valentine, you should not be so quick to judge me. You are lucky she is a woman for if she were not, she should have been snatched up long ago by the match-making mothers.”

The dull pang of sorrow hit him again and he choked out his words. “I cannot marry her, Perkins. No matter what you may say. She would not have me. No one would.”

The valet was suddenly behind him, his gentle fingers rubbing back and forth over Val's temples, calming him almost immediately, forcing his eyes closed. “Quiet yourself, Valentine. She is here for a week. You have plenty of time to consider how you feel and plenty of time to get to know her. You need no chaperone and you can do whatever you wish with her. After this week, you need never see her again if you so choose.”

“Right,” he said, opening his eyes again and picking up the pen on the table. He was unsure what to say in the small missive. He didn't bother dipping the pen, staring down at the paper with his lips pursed while Perkins moved to the other room and changed the linens on the bed to ones that were not soaked in the scent of sorrow and misery. With a deep breath, he stared up at the glove for what seemed like forever before he finally dipped the tip of his pen and scrawled something he thought would do, folding it and handing it over his shoulder to the passing Perkins before he could change his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With nieces and a valet like these, who needs a match-making mother?
> 
> Up Next: It will have taken SEVEN chapters for these assholes to finally actually speak to each other IN PERSON. Jesus.


	7. Chapter 7

She was just getting ready for bed, striding about with nothing but her loose bindings and her trousers, when there was a light knock on the door to her room which Wylie answered promptly. Perkins made a bow and, with no slight to Wylie, requested to address her personally. Of course, she allowed it and the servant took a few steps into the room and presented her with a small folded white square along with a piece of parchment that had been folded once and set atop.

“From the young Mr. Elridge for you, my Lady,” he stated, not even flickering a lash at her state of undress. “Forgive him his shyness, he is quite unused to strangers anymore. If you wish to send him a missive, I shall take it to him tomorrow morning. Good night, my Lady.”

She took the items to the small desk in the room while Wylie smirked.

“Oh he must have quite enjoyed your scent you gave him. I imagine you would get a lot of young men that way if there were more of them about. I have heard there is something quite attractive about the scent of an Alpha woman to those fairer males.” He gave a chuckle.

Drew could already smell the light and sweetness from the linen but she held herself back, intent to read the little note before she let herself be consumed by what she knew was to be perfection. It was scrawled and spidery, nearly illegible if she were entirely honest even with its brevity.

_Courtesy demands I give your glove back to you eventually though I am sorely tempted to keep it._

“Oh,” she laughed. “Oh alright.” She lifted the cravat to her nose and closed her eyes before she breathed deeply. Her mouth filled with saliva and her body tightened, shivers running through her as a primal hunger opened its jaws and clamped down over her soul. It was sunlight and the scent of spring blossoms. It was the silence of a snowy morning. It was to awaken in the depth of the night to a rumble of thunder in the distance. It was the crash of the ocean against the cliffs and the smell of the sea. Her ears were ringing and there was a fog over her mind that gradually lifted when she brought the cravat away from her nose and set it down with a trembling hand.

“That good, ehn?” Wylie snickered.

“You've no idea,” she ground out, her voice hard through the tightness in her abdomen. He was perfection, surpassing her impression of Mr. Hainsley with ease even from just a secondary source. His raven wing hair and the form of his lashes as they rested against his pale cheeks flashed through her memory and she felt her whole body warm.

“Well then, if you are through with me, my Lady, I shall take my leave before I am suffocated with your excitement.” She glanced at him with humor while he waved a hand in front of his nose. “I'll leave you to your fantasies and your pining.”

“Oh piss off,” she muttered, laughing at him even as he left. She immediately brought out her ink and pen and wrote her response, careful to create a soft and flowing script that would strike him as distinctly feminine. It was a weapon she found often muddied the waters and took Omegas by surprise. They expected Alphas to be male in most aspects.

_You are welcome to the other one if you wish, for they were made to be together._

There was no doubt that she had expressed her want of him in such a short message and made sure to pass the note to Perkins the next morning just before breakfast. She almost felt nervous about sending clandestine notes to an Omega who was purposely hidden somewhere for an unknown reason right under his brother's nose but her anxieties were misplaced. If she were to somehow capture the elusive Mr. Elridge, there was nothing saying she ever had to speak to Halwill ever again if he found the match unsuitable. He could make the attempt to stop her but he was unlikely to be successful if she did manage to entice his brother away from him.

She was standing with Miss Habersham and her mother when Perkins handed her a slip of parchment which she quickly pocketed after thanking him. Wishing to read it immediately, she almost regretted having ever stepped onto the lawn.

“Felicity tells me that she is very much curious as to the manner in which you are addressed,” Mrs. Habersham explained. “Being titled as a Lady but having your own title in your own right seems only a slight bit strange, if you'll permit me to say so.”

Miss Habersham was standing with her pretty pink lips shut tight together and her wide and wondering eyes set upon Drew, her head bowed submissively and tilted just barely to the side to expose the white of her neck where some might have placed a bondmark.

Drew cleared her throat, the missive from Mr. Elridge burning a hole in her pocket. “I do not mind being address as 'Lord' but if only for the fact that I am female, I consider being addressed as 'Lady' polite only for the acknowledgment that I _am_ what I am. Simply because I prefer men's clothes does not come to mean I prefer being thought of as a man.” She tossed a sympathetic glance to the pretty miss. “Men are often so hopeless, one would not wish to make that mistake.”

Being trapped by Mrs. Habersham was not a surprise. Felicity did not come from a titled line and was merely the niece of some lord Drew couldn't remember. She was perfectly at home with the peerage but was one step away from being considered an upstart. She would need a titled husband if she were to bring her family upwards through the ranks. It didn't hurt that Drew had probably cemented herself in Felicity's eyes as a heroic figure. As it was, the Alpha was forced to stay with the two Omegas for much longer than she wished before she was able to excuse herself under the guise of fetching a brandy.

Hidden outside of view inside the doors, she pulled the small note from her pocket and sucked in her lip.

_I cannot argue something so plainly natural._

“Oh you little _minx._ ” She slipped the paper in her pocket and strode off to her room to pen out her response. There was something so inviting about the way he wrote to her and yet the short sentences and scrawled words were abrupt and almost cool. That was something she supposed was natural for a man who was used to being alone, who was apprehensive about the idea of beginning something with an Alpha who was, as yet, entirely unknown to him. He already had her scent and he was clearly attracted by it. She already had the blessing of his nieces and even his valet who, in short order, had become her greatest asset in his capture. He was determined to blame his instinct—that which was only natural—for his attraction to her and she was not about to butt against his assertion. Instinct was what was going to lead him straight into her arms. She would take whatever lead she had with him and she would work with it. If he truly was suitable—she would lead him to love.

_I should like the opportunity to reunite the pair. Perhaps this evening, in the clover? 4:00?_

From the time she handed the small note to Perkins to the time he had slipped another note into her hand discreetly as she spoke with the Viscount, she had felt like her heart was beating so hard she could hear it in her ears. She made sure to pass her nose close to most of the Omegas in order to breathe in that inherently calming fragrance that seemed to make everything in her body simmer down and calm for at least a few minutes at a time. It was very nearly half a quarter to four by the time she was able to open the tiny document and her whole body tingled when she did, her fingers going a little numb from anticipation.

_Well enough._

“Well enough,” she whispered, sniffing. If he wanted to play at being coy, that was fine but he never would have had Perkins deliver his scent to her if he hadn't been entirely smitten with her aroma and willing to at least meet her. _Well enough._ She could only imagine crushing that sass under her lips and shutting out all his cynical careless thoughts with her touch.

With a sense of delicate urgency, she slipped out of the manor through a side door and walked swiftly across the lawn toward the woods in the same way she wandered the previous day. When she was fully engulfed under the trees, she let herself breathe fully and with relief, finding that she was much calmer under the cover of the canopy. The dapples fell around her as the birds twittered and a few deer scampered off after sensing her presence. The sunlight faded with a cloud just as she came to the clover and she put her hands in her pockets, traveling the treeline until she again came upon the stone wall, wandering until she was to the spot that she had left her glove.

She frowned and leaned over the stone only to find that he hadn't noticed her in the slightest. He was just as beautiful as she had remembered but this time he was sitting up, cushioned again by that thick woolen blanket with his nose in a book. It was difficult to tell from his position how tall he might have been if he stood up but she had no trouble discerning that he was taller than most Omegas, perhaps reaching the height of a typical Beta, the extra length of him clearly in his slender legs which were clad in black and crossed in front of him at the ankles of his boots. Today, he was wearing a proper combination of a waistcoat and a cravat which Drew thought was particularly maddening for she longed to see that whisper of his collarbone again.

With her most feminine voice she could muster, she spoke.

“Voltaire?”

His head swiveled with a slight gasp and he scrambled to get up, holding the book against his chest while he spun to face her, his eyes a brilliant and fine crystal blue that mirrored little Lady Iris, an attribute that fair made Drew's heart skip in her chest. His scent was at first alarmed but as he took her in and the breeze picked up, it drifted away while he replied in a faint and alluring tone.

“Browning, my Lady.”

“Ah,” she grinned, “' _My first thought was, he lied in every word._ '” She brought herself up onto the stone and sat, crossing her legs and leaning forward with her hands on either side of her, braced on the stone next to her thighs. “Or perhaps the other Browning? ' _How do I love thee? Let me count the ways._ '”

His cheeks flushed pink under those delicate freckles that she could just barely see in the diffused light from the sun behind the clouds. “The former Browning, I regret to say, my Lady.”

“Tis nothing to regret for I do love a dark adventure. May you be so kind as to read one to me? I should very much like to hear your voice.”

He appeared apprehensive, his eyes flitting to her and then down several times before he chose to sit next to her on the stone so that he was mostly downwind, depriving her of his alluring and delicious scent and doing so entirely on purpose. She could tell he was discreetly scenting the air as the breeze brought her to him and she let herself have a smug little smile when she noted his hands were shaking from it. Gathering himself and giving a shallow sigh, he opened the collection and began to read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Val gets ravished. That or Drew gets ravished. Somebody gets ravished. There's ravishing going on.
> 
> If anyone has anything to say, be sure to say it. I love reading all of your comments. You don't have to do it to motivate me (I'm a self-sustaining motivation system) but I really just get my jazzers from knowing how people react to my writing/characters/plot. So thanks! Remember, if you want to chat with me about Omegaverse or share headcanons, visit my Tumblr, [J.D. Writes](https://jdwrites.tumblr.com/).


	8. Chapter 8

When Perkins had told him that the Earl was staggeringly beautiful, he had thought that the man had merely been attempting to entice him by exaggeration. Having cast his gaze upon her, he was in awe that she had not been eagerly and ravenously eaten up by the ton for her bold but soft features and the nutty auburn of her hair that was complemented by compassionate cinnamon eyes. She was nothing like the Alphas he'd remembered from his youth and most definitely unlike his brother's friends who were bestowed with too-broad shoulders and overbearing musculature. She was tall and stately, there was no question of that, but she was more slender and fitted, her body proportional and as if sculpted by the most caring of hands. He did not believe he'd ever seen a more beautiful example of an Alpha in his life.

Val hoped that even as he was distracted by her captivating scent he could keep his voice even. He was already aware that his body was releasing small tremors simply from her closeness, her warmth that transferred through her distinguished fragrance filling every crevice inside him with light. When the sun came from behind the clouds again and shined down over him, he finished the poem he had chosen and he kept the volume open even as he looked upward toward the clover that undulated in the breeze as if green and purple waves in an ocean. Without his voice to fill the space, the silence between them was horrible and was cut only by the distant cries of songbirds that begged him to say _something_ to keep her here. To keep her.

_To keep her._

He took in a breath, rife with her, and turned toward her, his voice coming only as a whisper.

“I know not my own intentions, my Lady. I am lost.”

Her head was turned toward him and tilted so that her cheek was resting on her shoulder in a manner most childlike. She did not smile but her voice was playful while her eyes flitted around them. “I believe, Mr. Elridge, you are in a field of clover. I should not be so presumptuous as to guess at your intentions but I am certain I don't care a whit to know them anyway. Should you care to share them with me once you've decided upon them, I suppose I shall find you in the clover again.”

Val glanced at her lips for a moment before meeting her eyes again, a glance that was not missed by the sharp Earl.

“In the mean time,” she continued, “I should not be very unhappy if you were to read another poem to me while you ponder issue.”

He sighed. “And if I should kiss you instead?”

She narrowed her eyes and her lips formed a deviant grin. “I should not be so unhappy about that either, Mr. Elridge.”

“Valentine. Val.”

“Drew.”

There was a short pause before he fair but leaped toward her, his book sliding off his lap into the clover blossoms while he scrambled to get closer to her, his lips crushing hers while she caught him with strong arms and held him. His hands were in her hair, on her neck, grasping at her shoulders while he kissed her frantically, allowing her to maneuver him by gripping his thighs, sliding him to straddle her lap and pressing his groin down over hers before her arms came around his waist and back, pressing him tight against her while she fought his lips and tongue for dominance, their kisses a war of will that had his mind reeling in explosions of sensation and need.

She eased forward until she had them both sitting on the far side of the wall, Val still straddling her hips while she brought her knees up to lock him in place, grinding her hips upward with the leverage she'd created. He could feel her _Alpha_ member tight against the crotch of her trousers and he marveled at the whole concept of it, suddenly wishing she were naked and he was able to explore her marvelous body with his lips and teeth. He boldly tugged at her cravat and untied it, tossing it over his shoulder while he blindly struggled with the buttons of her waistcoat while still trying to kiss her madly. She let him back away from the kiss, her eyes half-lidded and clouded with her lust while she watched him unfasten her waistcoat and her shirt, pulling them open and dragging them down her arms only to be completely befuddled by the wide strips of material that loosely bound her breasts. He tentatively ran his fingers around her ribs to her back, exploring with his fingers until he could find where she'd tucked the loose end while she tossed her shirt and waist coat to the side.

Her chest rose and fell erotically while she leaned back against the wall, watching him unravel her bindings until she was bared to him and he marveled down at her pale breasts in the sunlight. His hesitation was rewarded by her hands moving to make quick work of his own clothes and they were both soon left bare from the waist up. She pulled him to her and kissed him but this time she was the one to set the pace—sweet and slow and sensual, her thumbs rasping over his puckered nipples and her hips rocking under him to create an overwhelming friction. His arms came around her neck and shoulders while that pressure mounted and he felt her breasts against him while they pressed together intimately.

Val couldn't help but give out a pleasured moan while he buried his face into the side of her neck, thrusting his hips against her as her hands guided them, his breath coming in quick labored pants. He groaned out his desperate words.

“I want you, Alpha. It's been so long.”

Her murmured response nearly sent him out of his mind for want of her. “If you are certain, Valentine, I will give you what you wish. But you must be sure.”

He groaned again while he pushed hips forward again. “If I am not to take my chance with you now, I fear I shall never have another. Please, Alpha. I need you.”

Drew didn't answer but she pushed herself up from leaning against the wall, reaching her hand out to catch his wool blanket, shaking it hard to spread it from its heavy folds before she rolled the both of them over on top of it, looming over Val with that alluring Alpha prowess that sent a tingle of anticipation rippling through him and tightening his already-stone-hard erection. He wanted nothing more than to be filled by her and nothing else would do. He quickly unfastened his own trousers and frantically pushed them down from his hips while she only shucked hers enough to pull herself from the front, the organ in her hand much like what he'd come to expect from any male. When she gazed down at him again and caught him staring with those glamored eyes, she grinned.

“Am I what you expected?” she asked, putting out her arms to her sides, her cheeks flushed.

He felt drunk on her heady aroused scent. “You are far more.”

She spat in her hand and reached down for him, leaning over him and bracing herself with an arm planted next to his shoulder. Her touch was like fire on his flesh and he gasped and mewled, his knees drawing up and his thighs spreading as if begging for her. God did he want her to take him. God did he want her to _rut_ him. When she spit on her hand again, she brought it lower and drew her wet fingers and palm over the place he wanted her most.

“Oh god,” he pleaded. “Please. I cannot bare to wait. Do not tease me.”

She slid her fingers into him and he gasped and panted, covering his face with one hand and grasping at her supporting arm with the other.

“Alpha please.”

“I do not wish to hurt you,” she crooned. “You are quite tight.” As if to prove her point, she eased a third finger into him and he felt himself stretch nearly uncomfortably. She worked him ever patiently while he squirmed and mewled beneath her, relieved only when she readjusted her position so that she was sitting on her feet between his thighs, her free hand stroking him with languid movements that put hard shudders through him while he writhed naked in the sun. When she shifted again, he thought perhaps it was just for her comfort but the pressure of her against him revealed her true intent.

“Yes,” he gasped when she pushed forward, sinking into him gradually while her expression pinched in concentration. He arched his back, cradling her body with his thighs and crossing his ankles behind her to pull her closer into him. “Fill me, Alpha,” he whined, throwing his head back as she pressed that intense point inside him that sent stars into his vision, his fingers grasping at the soft wool surrounding him. He emitted quiet but intense cries when she began thrusting back and forth inside him, his voice reedy and thin with his overdue lust. They were not jarring but steady and rhythmic, driving him two steps forward and one step back with every push and pull she gave with her flexing muscles and rocking hips. He held his lidded eyes on her face while she bit her bottom lip in her focus, her pants of exertion seasoned with feminine sighs of pleasure.

She leaned downward, pressing her body tightly against his while she continued her enduring and even thrusts, her nose settling just below his ear while she pulled in his scent with abandon. Her voice was husky and trembling while she hooked her arms under his back to grab his shoulders from behind. “You are nothing short of divine, Omega. I shall never forgive you for eluding me for so long. Oh, how I have had need for you and your wiles and your wit. Your body and your warmth.” Her voice grew into a whispered growl through her labored pants. “I care not for your intentions, Valentine, for I know that mine are only to give you the stars and the moon and the sun, if I can pull them down from the sky.”

He let go of a deep, primal moan as he wrapped his arms around her neck and his body convulsed in release. He could feel her pulsing within him, her ladylike yelps a rich addition to the sensation of warmth that spread into him as she came along with him. He basked in the bliss, clinging to her and holding her inside while the sun warmed his face and her body blanketed his. He stared upwards over her shoulder while they panted together, reeling from his sudden impassioned response to her scent and her presence and how quickly he had fallen into the trap of sweet nothings. Still, he felt her heart beating against his chest, pounding along with his, and he felt almost sated.

When she lifted herself and looked down at him, he watched her mouth quirk into a smile. “Have you pondered the issue?”

“What?” he breathed, his eyes fixated on her beautiful breasts. He hadn't even had the chance to put them into his mouth and he was regretting having hesitated.

“Of your intentions.” She reached for her bindings.

He wanted to tell her to wait, to let him suck on her but his words failed him when it finally sank in what she was trying to ask him. He fumbled over his words while he regrettably watched her replace the damnable bit of cloth. “I am afraid I was quite overwrought and...” He reached out with his hand, searching for his shirt, pulling it over to himself before he moved to let her slide out of him so he could sit up to shrug it on. Once it was over his shoulders, he took the edge of his blanket and mopped up the mess that was on his belly and that which was slowly dribbling out of his ass.

“And?” Drew asked, tucking herself back into her trousers, gazing at him with a warm expression that put an even deeper flush into his cheeks.

“A-and...” He buttoned his shirt about two thirds of the way before he pulled his trousers over to himself and pulled them on with some difficulty. “And I...I am uncertain that we should...should continue...this.”

Drew's smile disappeared and was replaced with an almost humored skepticism. She pulled her shirt over her shoulders and asked plainly, “Was I no good for you? Is it because I'm a woman?”

“No!” He paused from his gathering of clothes to stare at her, open-mouthed. “No, no, absolutely not. I simply...I just...oh no. No. You...you're beautiful. You're...exquisite. I...it is nothing to do with you, my Lady.”

“Drew.”

“I apologize but I shall not call you by your name; I fear I must not hold you dear in any manner.” He felt his heart speed up but this time not from arousal. He had to get away from her. He had to find his boots and put them on and get away from her and back where he was safe from his traitorous heart. He kept his eyes on the ground as he shuffled around on his knees, turning away from her to reach for his boot. He didn't quite make it before he felt her strong arm around his waist, pulling him backwards. “What are you—?”

“What is this about, Valentine?” she asked, her lips against his ear and her voice putting a deep shudder through his whole body. “I understand that you are in no need of a mate if you are comfortable here. But if you were ever tempted, you should know that I shall be more than willing to be your partner.”

 _Partner?_ He was not used to this language from Alphas who commonly told Omegas what their place was through seditious language telling them what they were _going_ to do. They were not so pleading. They were demanding and bold—so unlike _her_.

“I should like to see you again, Valentine. If you would have me.”

“I'm sorry, my Lady,” he choked, swallowing the hard lump in his throat.

She slowly released the steel grip of her arm and he let her back away while he knelt where he was before he felt her curious fingers brush down the collar of his shirt where it sagged over the place his neck met his back. At the touch, he forgot his boots in a sudden and uncontrollable panic, shooting to his feet and vaulting the stone wall with ease, sprinting hard from her voice and her scent and her touch. If she yelled for him, he did not hear it and he did not care to hear it. By the time he reached the heavy door to his cottage, his feet were scratched and bleeding from stones and branches he had scrambled over to get away from that horror.

He collapsed on the wooden floor of the kitchen, his chest heaving and the panic in his chest still buzzing like an angry swarm of hornets. He sat up, clutching his chest and staring back at his bloodied feet but bringing his hand not to them but to the back of his neck. To the bondmark that had destroyed him. That made him what he was and what he would always be.

 _Ruined_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ravished! And in a very Val fashion, crippled with anxiety.
> 
> There's a lot of mid-fic sex in this one (this is the start) so I hope everyone's on board 'cause damn, I went a little heavy.


	9. Chapter 9

Drew had not bothered to run after him. She took the rest of his clothes that he had left and piled them on top of the wool blanket which she had folded and followed the path that he had run, coming across the quaintest little cottage she thought she'd ever seen. It smelled of him. It was where he had been hiding and thus why she had thought he was a phantom in the manor house. It must have been his secret hideaway so he would not have to deal with obnoxious guests.

_Or nosy Alphas._

She left the items outside the door, noting blood on the threshold that must have come from his bare feet with the way he ran to escape her. It would not have helped anything for her to knock on his door or force her way in despite the strong urge to do so. She wanted to kick down the damn thing and curl up with the fragile Omega, her protective Alpha instincts itching in overdrive. If she hadn't been so careless about touching him. If she hadn't been so curious, he wouldn't have panicked so suddenly.

The bondmark that had been placed low on the back of his neck had been just barely peeking out from above his collar and, frankly, Drew had wished to see it in its entirety. For now, it was imperative that she hold back her assumptions, though as she walked through the woods toward the manor, she could not help but speculate on its origins. He could have been married. Widowed. Abandoned. Considering his circumstances as a hidden recluse of Halwill's estate, his brother very well could have purposely stowed him due to the risk of shame and the social ostracizing that made the ton so fickle. If this were the case then...

_He was marked out of wedlock?_

Such a thing was practically unheard of, especially among the peerage. No Alpha was out of control of their faculties to such a degree that they should mark any Omega without having expressed permission to do so and even if they _had_ , the proper course for such a thing was for a marriage to be officiated _immediately_ with a special license. It was not something gentlemen _did_. Of course, she conceded, as she wandered into the house via a side door close to the kitchen, there could have been something even more terrible that happened to him to place it there but she refused to think of it. Even highwaymen and thieves searching for ransom did not _mark_ gentlemen lest they lose their highest value.

She snuck up to her room where she found Wylie awaiting her so he could get her ready for dinner. The valet shimmied his shoulders in excitement for the way she had returned, obviously successful and smelling strongly of satisfied Omega.

“You absolute fox,” Wylie laughed. “Unbelievable, you go out to get some poetry read to you and you end up rolling around in clover. It's a good thing I had faith in your abilities, I had the staff bring you a hip bath.” He laid out her dinner clothes on the bed while she stripped down and got into the luke-warm water, scrubbing herself to remove every lovable trace of Valentine Elridge as not to alarm his brother or sister-in-law. “So?” Wylie asked.

“He is quite lovely,” Drew mused. “I need you to do me a great favor.”

“Anything,” Wylie stated as he got her towel ready.

“I need you to find his valet, Perkins. I need you to very discreetly inform the man that Mr. Elridge will need some tending to, and I also need you to tell him that I intend to marry him.” She stood and grabbed the towel, fluffing herself dry as she continued. “He is a fragile creature and I am afraid I have inadvertently prodded a wounded animal. He may lash out at me if I attempt a direct approach.”

Wylie nodded, “Anything you ask, my Lady. If you wish, I shall go now.”

“Do. I can dress myself.”

Dinner was a boring affair even as Lady Halwill had noticed that Felicity and her mother had set their casual attentions on Drew as a possible, although not likely, suitor. She was placed next to the girl and although the girl seemed quite accomplished, she was hard pressed to speak without her mother chittering over her shoulder, her shoulder's and head cast downward to imply submission. Everything about her screamed that her mother had been managing her to every last ribbon and Drew wondered what the girl would have said having had ribbons on her corset destroyed. Of course, the Earl had made certain that new ones were procured, supplied to the girl's ladies maid via Wylie, but the idea that perhaps her mother had known... Drew waited until Felicity's mother had moved to chatter with her other dinner partner before she leaned toward the girl and whispered politely.

“The ribbons, they were satisfactory?”

“Oh.” The sound almost seemed involuntary. “Oh yes, my Lady. They are of great quality. Thank you. And...thank you for your help.”

She smiled softly. “When one has been squeezed into one of those awful things before, it is only natural to want to destroy them all.”

Felicity giggled. “I can scarce imagine someone trying to convince you.” Her smile was the most cheerful that Drew had seen the entire season.

“I have four younger sisters,” she explained with humor. “There was no convincing involved. Even an Alpha cannot overcome the strength of their will.”

Unfortunately, the giggles that Felicity had begun served only to arouse the suspicions of her mother who again turned around and began chattering at her daughter and at Drew. The Earl sighed, turning her attentions to her thoughts and wondering when she would be able to converse with Perkins again. She did not even see him as she made her way to the drawing room and figured he might have still been with Val, comforting him, perhaps. A wave of something like guilt passed through her and she was beginning to wonder if she had done the right thing in making love to him when he had asked.

She stood in her usual spot while the group in the drawing room gathered around some of the ladies and they took turns reading to everyone. She had filled her glass with brandy almost to the rim and was about halfway finished with it when she heard a strange sound from the hall.

“Pst.”

She blinked through the dim light to find a shine of blonde at the “T” in the hall. With a glance back to the drawing room, she slipped out and followed the little trouble maker until she was led into that small parlor that the girls had been plotting within before.

The three of them curtsied her and the eldest, Lily Anna, bade her to sit.

“What have you done to Uncle Val?” she asked, crossing her arms in front of her. The two other girls did the same, mimicking the threatening pose in a laughable manner. “We know it was you.”

Drew leaned forward in her seat, intensely curious. “What has he said?”

Julia replied. “He never says anything. Sometimes he gets sad and does not wish to get out of bed when we come to visit him.”

Lily Anna continued. “This time is different. We came to him after supper. Perkins shooed us away and would not even let us see him but we could still smell you there. Usually, Perkins at least lets us curl up with him and nap.”

Iris blurted, “He's a sleepy Uncle.”

“Perhaps we were wrong to choose you,” Lily Anna scowled. “You've gone and hurt him.”

Drew sighed through her nose. “I am afraid, little one, that your Uncle has been hurt for a very long time. Longer than any of you have been alive. Fear not, ladies, I fully intend on getting to the bottom of the matter.” They looked at her with skepticism until she stood up and left, leaving them to their plotting and ponderings while she returned to the drawing room having not been missed.

It was not ideal but she made her way around the room and sidled next to Georgette whose hazel eyes were glazed probably more from boredom than from anything else. The lovely little Omega was more than happy to accept Drew's request to speak privately and the two of them very discreetly made their way out into the hallway, their presence possibly only noticed by Lord Halwill who tilted his head after his wife but nodded when she raised a placating hand on her way out. Lady Halwill led her to a vacate study, easily moving about the room and lighting a few lamps before she shut the door and rounded upon Drew.

“Your tone,” Georgette began, “has been very calm but your scent is anxious, Lady Netherfield. I am wondering what this is all about.”

“I do not wish to overly shock you, my Lady, but it is about Val.”

“Val?” She appeared alarmed, her scent gaining a tinge of fear.

“Ease yourself, my Lady. I met him in the clover by the stone wall in the south fields. But his shyness. His lonesome nature—it is unnatural. Omegas seek touch, affection, intimacy. He is very much deprived, my Lady, and it shows only so easily.” She scratched the back of her head. “Is there no way to him? What has made him this way? I...” she paused, battling herself, “I have seen his bondmark.”

At first she was certain that Lady Halwill was going to flee instead of answer her. She was sure that the little Omega was going to run straight to her husband and have Drew forcefully removed from the estate for having dared ask such a question. But she didn't, her voice unsure in her words. “He...He was a debutante when he presented at nineteen.”

Drew found she had been holding her breath and tried not to.

“He was very popular. Gentlemen flocked to him and he reveled in it. He was so pretty and so personable. You should have not even recognized him, my Lady, he was so different. He flirted and danced and attended every party he could manage.” Her blonde brows flickered. “There was a Baron whose father was an Earl and the family was very wealthy. He was dashing and handsome and something about him was so _dangerous_ and so...of course Val had to waltz with him. Had to...” She caught a stray tear that had escaped from her eye. “By the time we knew what Val had done, there was nothing we could do about it. He had thought the Baron loved him and he had been marked.”

Drew swallowed.

“Lord Halwill, Wendell's father, had tried to force a marriage but the other Earl wouldn't hear of it. He claimed that Val had tricked his son into a bondmark and had placed himself before the Baron as a temptation only for his wealth, which, as you know, is ridiculous. The Baron had been promised to marry another Omega from an allied family the whole time, leaving Val...”

“Ruined,” Drew growled.

“The society papers only caught wind of some of the scandal, only enough to say that Val had been compromised. It was quite the uproar for the time. He got dozens of requests for marriage but he was so distraught that he could not face them. About three years later, after everything had been mostly forgotten, a young gentleman came to him at the estate and asked for his hand. He was inclined to accept but when the young man found out that he had already been marked, he rescinded the proposal and fled.” Georgette sniffled. “It has been ten years since that horrible season and he is nothing like he used to be. I truly believed that he might have killed himself by now if it weren't for Lily Anna and Julia and...” she sniffed again. “And my sweet Iris.”

Drew took in a deep breath and let it out as a hard sigh. “Is there no way to him, my Lady?”

“What can you mean?” Lady Halwill asked, soaking another tear into the finger of her glove. “You surely cannot intend to marry him. He is already marked.”

“It is not the mark I am concerned with,” Drew replied. “It is more his heart that holds my interest.”

The confusion in the Viscountess's eyes melted into warm recognition and just the barest hint of a smile lighted her features. “Perhaps a...a sonnet then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Drew doesn't really give a shit about much.


	10. Chapter 10

Perkins bound his wound after having washed his foot, only one of the gashes he'd sustained having any depth. The valet told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to go out walking in his boots with his foot how it was for at least a day. He was allowed to casually wander about the house but he was not to take any sort of long walks on the morrow and it was preferred that he did not put any weight on it at all. Val had declined the bath the man had also suggested.

“You smell like sex and Alpha,” the Beta explained plainly.

“I am aware.”

Perkins left the bedchamber door open while he went to make tea. He raised his voice in order to be heard. “You will get your sheets scented and dirty.” When he came back with the tea a few minutes later, Val answered in a quiet voice, hugging his pillow to his chest.

“Do not take her from me.”

Perkins did not skip a beat as he sat down the tea on the night stand, his brows quirking. “She will not leave you alone, Valentine. She will come for you.”

“She got what she wanted. She needs nothing more from me.” The valet flicked his nose, causing him to flinch and bring his fingers to it.

“You are being foolish,” the Beta snapped. “Has it not occurred to you that she may have already found out all about you? That she might know exactly what was done to you? That she may not give a damn if you've already been marked? That she may truly wish to marry you?” He rolled his eyes with a dramatic sigh. “Is it so difficult to believe that such a thing as love exists?”

“Yes.”

“Devil take you!” Perkins snapped again. “You have _loved_ , Valentine,” he stated, the edge in his voice growing. “You loved and you loved at very first sight. I know for Georgette told me how it was. How sudden. How fully and brilliantly it all was for you. It exists and you know it does. Is it so hard to think that she may have taken once glance at you and been dazzled by your beauty? That she was so enamored by your voice and your scent that she knew then that she had to marry you?”

Val hit his hands on the bedclothes around him and yelled back at Perkins, his cheeks flushed and his heart pounding. “We cannot always have what we want. Nor that which we love. She would come to know me and she would come to loathe me as I loathe myself! She cannot possibly love me fully knowing I gave myself so freely, allowed a bondless mark upon my neck! She may believe she can but she cannot! Even _I_ cannot! What hope has _she_!?”

Perkins seethed, his eyes flashing in the dim light of the lamps. He let out one last parting growl. “Faithless boy!” The door slammed hard enough to shake the cottage when he left, leaving Val sitting in his bed with a wounded foot and a wounded soul.

He fell back onto the bed and pulled off his clothes, tossing them on the floor and letting the cool forest air that seeped in through the open window cascade over his naked flesh. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the sun shining over him again, the light over him bright and gentle. Amid the smell of the trees was the scent of _her_ that still permeated his skin, mingling with his own aroma and that sweet, tangy sex that lingered and tugged at his gut. As much as she hurt him, pushed him into that old, dusty pain, he didn't want to forget her so quickly. He wanted her scent on his body. He wanted her arms around him. He wanted _touch_. He wanted _affection_. It was only natural, he thought. It was only that he was an Omega and he was designed to crave an Alpha's skin, hands, lips, _tongue._

Frustrated, he pulled the covers over his body, wrapping himself under the heavy quilts and hugging his pillow to himself as a poor substitute for what he truly needed. Eventually, he dozed, awoken sometime later to a strange sensation. He blinked awake and was unable to note what was different. It was not the temperature in the room, it was not the light...and it was not so late, he thought. It could only have been a few hours since he'd fallen into slumber.

Still, he was surprisingly unperturbed to find Drew leaning in against his window sill, her affectionate gaze coupled with a charming smirk. She began in a soft murmur while he lay prostrate, staring up at her blankly, her words tumbling easily and unhurried in fond verse.

 _Let me not to the marriage of true minds_  
_Admit impediments. Love is not love_  
_Which alters when it alteration finds,_  
_Or bends with the remover to remove:_  
_O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,_  
_That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;_

 _It is the star to every wandering bark,_  
_Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken._  
_Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks_  
_Within his bending sickle's compass come;_  
_Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,_  
_But bears it out even to the edge of doom._  
_If this be error and upon me proved,_  
_I never writ, nor no man ever loved._

Val felt as if he were to cry, staring at her handsome face, still poised with unadulterated devotion, her head tilting with wonder. He choked out his response. “Shakespeare. Sonnet one hundred and sixteen. You are marvelously well-read, my Lady.”

“Is that all you wish to say to me?”

“No.” He hadn't meant to say it out loud. He did not want her to know of his desperation. He kicked himself for having claimed it and vowed not to reveal any more. He wanted so badly to tell her how much he wished it could be true. How much he had once hoped— _believed_ —that Shakespeare had been right in his claim that love does not change for circumstance...that love bends to no storms. That it _endures._

“Tell me, my love,” she murmured, resting her head against the frame of the window, her lidded eyes still cast over him with open adoration.

He felt tears escape the corners of his eyes. “I cannot.”

She allowed for a short pause before she spoke again, her tone still loving and dear. “I apologize if I overstepped my bounds when I held you this afternoon. I did not mean to frighten you or to cause you any pain. I feel that you should know I hold no importance to such trifles.”

“Trifles?” He laughed incredulously. “ _Trifles!_ ”

She was unaffected. “Trifles, Valentine. Merely such. You should never have to think upon it again for it is nothing that cannot be remedied.”

“Remedied? You speak of it as if it can be erased. As if my sins can be washed away by simple will.” He let go of a pained sob. “You are no authority of what can be forgotten, my Lady. Even if your love looks on tempests and is never shaken. Even if it bears out even to the edge of doom. To my death. You cannot alter the way I detest myself for what I have done.”

“What is that, my sweetest Valentine? What have you done? Loved? Is that so much a crime?”

He turned away from her, his neck bared to her through the dim lamplight. “I have condemned myself and as Roland to the Dark Tower, I came to my damnation willingly.”

“Then I shall come as well.”

He fell silent and stayed so for a long time, his body thrumming as if about to burst with something. His whole being felt as if he were floating somewhere else, disconnected from his corporeal form and tumbling toward the center of the Earth, toward a Dark Tower that stood tall and daunting while bells tolled in his ears, ringing and ringing and ringing until he felt himself take in a shuddering gasp, his forced words breaking out of him in a hard sob.

“Please, Alpha. _My_ _Alpha_. Please hold me.”

* * *

He was warm against her, his arms around her middle and his head settled on her arm while she rested her forearm on his shoulder in order to gently tug on the hair near his ear. His sweet scent was overwhelming under the heavy quilts and she reveled in it while she whispered delicate words to him, savoring every bit of him—the crystal of his eyes, the jet of his hair, and the shallow rise and fall of his ribs as he breathed near to her. Every bit of him was precious to her and every moment he allowed her near was the most cherished moment of her life. For every instance that she had ever told Wylie that she was not so picky, she regretted when she beheld him, when she spoke to him, when she felt the sting of his emotion.

His mumbled and sleepy voice shook her and tugged at her heart.

“Are you to leave me before I wake?”

“I shall never leave you again if you wish me to stay.”

He nodded. “I wish not to wake alone. And...” With slow and fumbling movements, he reached around her and tugged at the loose end of her binding, unwinding it from her until he could pass his eyes over her, leaving her in nothing but her trousers. His fingers traced the red lines where the fabric's edges had rested on her skin before the side of his thumb skimmed the sensitive strip to the side of her, brushing inches from one hard pink peak. He seemed almost undecided, sucking in his lip before his blue eyes met her gaze. His whisper made her shiver. “May I?”

“All yours,” she breathed.

His touch was tentative at first, his soft lips scattering slow kisses on her sternum before he worked his way over her breast toward that sweet anticipated pleasure. When his lips finally teased over her nipple, she bit her bottom lip while blood rushed between her legs and left her in a dizzying state. His mouth was warm and his suckle was exquisite, his tongue loving and generous enough to illicit soft and short cries from her throat while she arched her back for want of the aching pleasure he bestowed with his taste of her.

“Valentine,” she breathed, pulling him over her and settling his slender nude form over her, between her legs. He easily adapted, kissing and nipping his way to her other breast, pulling a moan from her while he sucked and lapped, his hips pushing down against her even as she was trapped still in her trousers. Without looking, he made quick work of them, pulling her out and stroking her with eager hands. When his mouth left her, she didn't have to wait long to feel it again, throwing her head back into his pillows when he took her, his lips and tongue working and stroking, purposely covering her in a thick coating of saliva. “Oh...Oh Val. You are such a good boy. You're my good boy. My sweet Omega.”

He popped his mouth off of her and pulled himself up and over her, straddling her until he could reach behind himself to grip her hard length, forcing her inside him. His mouth opened and his eyes closed as he drew himself downward over her, his warmth and tautness surrounding her while his delicious scent mixed with hers and the fresh forest air that still crept through the open window. She felt him flush against her knot and she trembled to think of how beautiful and passionate he could be while sweating and fevered in a heat. She longed for that day when she could finally knot him, when she could hear those salacious words from his wet, pink lips. Drew let go a moan from between gritted teeth while she bucked upwards into him, creating a steady pattern as he rode her. She shifted her weight to touch him, letting their movements guide his smaller cock through her fingers while he panted and groaned.

“ _Alpha_...” he moaned.

“Drew,” she panted.

He only hesitated a moment before he gazed downwards into her eyes, his body bouncing as he was continuously impaled over and over on her thick shaft. “ _Drew_.”

She brought him to his release while he rode her and reached her own as he tightened around her, trembling and giving out prolific but short cries of pleasure. When he was finished, she drew him down over her, tucking his head against her shoulder while he straddled her, his weight comfortable. She arranged the blankets and quilts around them so that he might sleep atop her and was unsurprised to find him drifting even as she did so.

When she awoke again, there was daylight streaming in dapples from the window as it glimmered through the canopy of trees above. Val was still with her, his perfection accentuated by morning light rather than diminished by it. She held him and gentle woke him with her mild caresses to his hair, catching his sleepy gaze and being so enraptured by it that she was speechless, able only to smile at him like a fool of feeble mind.

He sighed, dipping his nose into her throat and scenting her while he came awake, pressing his face against her until she could feel the fluttering of his lashes. He spoke. “I shall never understand what has brought you to me.”

Drew laughed, grasping the back of his head to still him so she could tilt her head upward to nibble the side of his throat. “Your meddlesome nieces, if you must place blame.”

She was relieved to feel his light chuckles. “Would that I could have met you when I was young.”

“Would you have even given me a glance?”

He quieted while he raised himself to look down at her, his black brows knitting as he stared down at her face and pondered the question. His soft whisper was sorrowful and weak. “No.”

She tapped his nose with the tip of her finger. “I am merely happy to have met you at all. To have heard your voice.” She let him have an obscene smirk. “To have _tasted_ you.” She let her finger trail to his lips and she whispered up at him while the dapples of sun shimmered over them. “Valentine Elridge, please take mercy on my heart. Please marry me.”

His pause was torturous and long, his brows still knitted and his eyes and scent holding apprehension and anxiety. Conflicted and concerned, he stuttered back to her. “Yuh-you must p-promise me that you shall never c-come to hate me.”

Drew put both her hands on either side of his head and pulled him down to her lips, drawing all his protests into her mouth while she teased him and opened him and broke down every defense he'd erected against her. When she pulled back, she only did so to put a mere breath between them, whispering against his lips.

“My love looks upon tempests. It is never shaken. Let me be the star that guides you, Valentine.”

He only gave pause for a moment again before he nodded.

“You shall?”

“Yes,” he whispered. “I shall marry you, if you are certain.”

Drew wanted to leap out of the bed and scream out her victory. She wanted to whoop and holler and shout from the mountain tops that she had captured the elusive and beautiful Omega of her dreams. Instead, she sent brief thank you to the God that gave her Shakespeare and pulled Val's lips to hers again, kissing him silly until she felt him hard against her again and she flipped them so that he was under her. She made love to him again and drowned his delighted yelps with deeper, wet open-mouthed kisses.

By the time Perkins dropped by, Drew had already made Val his morning tea and was sitting on one of the counter tops sipping her own cup while the tall Omega sat in what she assumed was his usual seat, directly across from where she was sitting. The valet opened the door without a knock and stopped short when his eyes came to her where she sat in just a shirt and trousers, her bare feet dangling a few inches from the floor and a cup of tea in her fingers. The man turned his eyes to Val who did not look up at all.

His voice was even and smoothed away all the surprise she'd noted in his features. “Shall I bring another breakfast, then?”

Val quietly responded. “That will be appropriate, thank you, Perkins.”

Not only did he bring another breakfast, he brought Wylie with him, both carrying a hip bath. While Drew and Val munched their toast and their eggs, the two valets worked together to fill it, the two of them failing miserably in hiding their smug grins to each other as if the two of them had been conspiring the entire time to make a match. Val paid them no mind, his expression carefully policed even when he snuck covert glances toward Drew where she sat on the counter. Only when he met her eyes did he lose some of his poise as she smirked at him.

When the bath was filled, Val casually dismissed Perkins and she Wylie. They helped each other bathe and change into the fresh clothes that the valets had brought, careful not to scent each other as they did so. She put herself together and ran a hand through her messy auburn locks, casting her eyes to him where he sat watching her on the counter where she had been before.

“How do I look, lover?”

“Like a dream,” he mused, smiling. “I am so afraid that I shall wake.”

She came to him and laid a kiss over his lips. “I do not have to ask your brother for your hand. I can call for the coach and run away with you.”

“My nieces.”

_Drat._

“Oh, yes,” Drew chuckled. “They would be quite upset, wouldn't they?” She was mostly disquieted in the fact that Perkins had forbidden Val from walking with his foot wounded as it was. Without being carried, he would be unable to make the trek to the manor house and even if he had succeeded in getting there, the pain could have made it too difficult for him to return. She was resigned to going alone and so she kissed him again before she left, trying to hold his scent with her as she went. It should have been easier with him beside her. After all, the Viscount was his brother and he was of an age where his own wishes should have been considered paramount.

As breakfast was over, guests were scattered and she found Halwill smoking in his seat near the terrace railing again. As she approached, he grinned and motioned to the seat near him. When she sat, he puffed his pipe a few more times, letting the puffs of smoke rise in the moist morning air of summer. Dew still glittered over the lawn.

“You know, my sniffer's never been as good as others,” Halwill noted, “But you smell different.”

“I'm in love.”

Halwill laughed, clearly tickled. “Love is what does it then? I must've smelt like a fool when I laid eyes on Georgette. No wonder my father gave us a blessing so quickly. He could scent it on me.”

Drew's smile was soft. “That is what I come for, Halwill.”

“What is?”

“Your blessing.”

His confusion was apparent in the tilt of his head and the quirk of his brows, his pipe forgotten between his fingers.

“I should let you know that he has already accepted my proposal. I wish to marry your brother.”

Halwill's mouth opened very slightly, his expression of confusion slowly altering to that of shock. “Val?” he blurted.

“Have you another secret brother?” she chuckled.

He cleared his throat and straightened in his chair, still reeling from her words. “Uh...uhm no. No others. Just the one. I...” He frowned. “How did you manage this?”

“A sonnet, my Lord.”

Halwill snickered and pulled out a match, re-lighting his pipe and puffing it while chuckling to himself. “Well,” he said, pulling it from his lips and blowing out a cloud. “I suppose then you've accepted that he is not quite the blushing virgin bride most of us hope for? He is bondmarked, you know.”

“I shall make short work of it,” she replied.

“An artist then,” he grinned. “If it gets the moping poet out from under foot, I shall not stand in your way. Marry him.” He puffed on his pipe again. “Marry him and give him children. They are what bring him true joy. I see it in him when he is with them.”

“My Lord, this may seem like a dangerous request but I wish to know who did this to him.”

Halwill growled, his teeth hard on the stem of his pipe. “A hell-bound rake who shall be ripped limb from limb in the bowels of hell by the devil himself.” He met Drew's stare with ice in his blue eyes. “I was forbidden from challenging him to a duel when it happened. I should have anyway. I should like to see him trampled to death. No. Hanged. No. Broken upon the wheel.” He sighed.

“His name?”

“The Earl of Northrop. Ten years ago he was a Baron.” He hissed out his name with more malice than Drew had ever before heard in a breath. “ _Bentley Whiston_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The line that Drew first states when Val claims that he's been reading Browning in an earlier chapter is from "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" so when Val makes mental reference to the Dark Tower, he's not making a reference to Stephen King's series. Every reference he makes is to the original poem that inspired a lot of that series, including the bells, which, if you've read King's books, is similar to the Todash Chimes. Also: It is relevant to note that in a lot of cases, it was commonly thought that the Dark Tower in Browning's work was reference to Roland's damnation that he wandered toward unknowingly but willingly enough through a tattered mental state. There's a lot of like really veiled references in this chapter which I will take all the blame for because it's all pretty poetic.
> 
> Up Next: The girls find out that there's been a flaw in their plan the whole damn time and nobody told them.
> 
> Thank you for all of your comments! I've had such a fun time chatting with a lot of you and I'm grateful for all the positive words!


	11. Chapter 11

Julia was more laying in her seat than sitting in it, although her bottom _was_ on the seat of the chair. She was sideways, holding onto the back while her legs were stretched out together and her back was arched, her head and hair dangling backwards and the tips of the blonde locks very nearly brushing the floor. Iris was standing on her chair while Lily Anna, the only one who was actually sitting properly, tugged on her dress in an effort to get her to sit. Val was standing on one foot, holding the wounded one up behind him, while he made more tea. If Perkins were to walk in, Val had no doubt that the man would have simply shut the door again and left.

“I am delighted you are well again Uncle Val. If I had known that her Ladyship should have hurt you, I would have never told her where you take your naps.” Lily Anna succeeded in getting Iris to sit and Julia sat up suddenly.

“ _You?!_ We _all_ told Drew where he napped!”

“No,” Lily Anna explained. “You just stood there like a ninny. I told her. It's _my_ fault.”

Val sighed and turned around. “Lady Netherfield did not hurt me.”

Julia turned to Lily Anna with a smug expression. “I told you Drew would not have done something so dastardly. She is beautiful.” Lily Anna scowled and Julia turned her attention to Val again. “I told them she was lovely. Drew said you've been hurt for a long time. It wasn't anything that _she's_ done, isn't that right, Uncle Val?”

“That...that is right,” he said, swallowing hard. “She is...quite lovely.” He turned again and poured them all their tea, setting each girl up with a cup and a saucer.

Iris blew on hers, kicking her legs back and forth under her chair. “We will...” she blew on her tea again. “Have a...” Another blow. “Wedding. Then.”

“Yes!” Lily Anna cheered up. “When shall the wedding be? You and her Ladyship will be married and we shall have an aunt!”

Julia pinched her. “An uncle!”

Lily Anna pushed Julia hard, nearly knocking her to the floor. “An _aunt_ you silly chit. Drew is a girl!” She turned her eyes to Val again. “She will make you happy, right Uncle Val? And we shall have a baby to play with.”

He chuckled. “There has been a flaw in your plan, little one. I did not have the heart to tell you of it but...if I shall marry Lady Netherfield, I shall have to leave. I shall have to live with her on her own estate.”

The three of them stared at him in silence for a long time before Lily Anna broke it with a dramatic whisper.

_“Blast.”_

Val laughed, unable to help himself.

“There is still time,” Lily Anna shook her head. “She has not proposed.”

“She has,” Val said between his chuckles. “And I have told her that I shall marry her.” He narrowed his eyes and grinned at the three of them, pointing to each of them. “You three have only yourselves to blame for this. You've plotted and manipulated your way into making your dearest Uncle husband to a dashing and charming woman Earl!”

Lily Anna gasped. “Uncle Val! How are we to play with your baby if you are to leave? This is not acceptable. She will simply have to stay here and forget about her old home. She will not take you away from us.”

“Oh,” Val laughed, “But she will. However, if you are good and you finish all of your vegetables,” he paused while the three of them pulled faces. “Then I shall let you come to Netherfield and you may touch my belly when I am carrying my pups. You may play with my babies when I have them. Perhaps I will even let you help in naming them.”

Iris raised her hand. “Biscuit.”

“We shall not be naming my pup 'Biscuit.' Perhaps you shall not have a hand in naming. Perhaps Lady Netherfield will have a more appropriate idea.”

“Drew,” Julia stated, sipping her tea.

Val paused, leaning against the counter. “Drew.”

“Has she kissed you? That will cause quite the scandal when father hears of it.” Lily Anna raised her brows as if she were a scolding mother. “You will be in _so_ much trouble if she has kissed you in the clover.”

“And who is going to tell him?” Val teased.

Lily Anna and Julia gasped and giggled, their reactions causing Iris to follow suit despite her being entirely clueless to the meaning for their fits. The sight of them laughing and happy put a warm and loving emotion inside him. The idea of losing them...it was difficult. He would miss their laughter in the mornings. He would miss watching them grow up. He would miss seeing his Iris bloom.

There was a soft knock on the door to the cottage and the three girls chimed all at the same time for the guest to enter, their assumption most likely that it would have been Drew coming to call. They were quite mistaken as it was _not_ Drew but Wendell who strode through the door, his brow popping high to his hairline as the three girls immediately silenced their giggles and shouts as he towered in the corner of the small kitchen. They were able to keep quiet for only so long before Julia broke down and started laughing again.

Their father, the Viscount, crossed his arms in front of him, forcing Julia to put a hand over her mouth to stop herself. “And what is all this about?” he asked in a low and curious tone.

Lily Anna tilted her head and stated plainly, “Uncle Val is causing _scandal_ , father. He has been kissed in the clover.”

Val gasped, “You little _devil!_ I shall hope your sisters tell on _you_ when you've been kissed in the clover!”

The Viscount held his face as straight as he could manage it and replied seriously, “Is that so? Well then, I shall have to have a private word with your Uncle about his behavior. You three will go to the house. I have instructed the cook to make you all lunch, and there shall be extra biscuits.”

“With honey?” Iris asked without looking up from her tea.

“Plenty of honey,” Wendell nodded. “And you shall _not_ eavesdrop on your Uncle and I while we speak. Now go.”

The three of them got down from their seats and each of them gave Val a comical grimace while they left. Once their feet were on the other side of the threshold, they were off, running as fast as they could away from what they probably assumed was going to be a terrible tongue-lashing from their often-strict and sensible father.

Wendell did not sit, pushing in the chairs that the girls were using and keeping his hands on the back of one of them while he stood across the table from where Val stood, his form massive in the small space. It should have been obvious to anyone that they were brothers. Wendell might have been taller and built stronger with a fuller jaw but they both possessed those dazzling baby blue eyes and that dark hair their mother had been so proud of. Val often fantasized that if he had been destined to be an Alpha, it should have been difficult for anyone to have guessed that the were not twins.

His mouth felt dry so he leaned forward and took the half-drunk cup of tea from Julia's seat, gulping it. When he'd finished, Wendell still hadn't spoken so Val blurted his statement.

“I...I shall not burden you anymore, brother. At least.”

Wendell dipped his head and sighed through his nose, lifting up his eyes and quirking his mouth to the side. “I came because I am curious.”

Val tilted his head.

“I am curious as to whether or not this was truly what you wished.” Wendell paused, thinking over his words. “Alphas are...tenacious and pushy. We are all like this. We can push too hard too fast. I merely wished to come ask you if you wanted for me to provide you with a grace period. Naturally there is to be an engagement. Your wedding shall not be until at least the autumn. However, I _can_ draw it out if you are uncertain. There is no risk in breaking your engagement.”

“No,” he said in a strong tone. “I...I know why you offer and I appreciate your concern. I know...” He put his fingers against his chest. “I know I have been heartsick...”

Wendell lifted a shoulder. “I cannot be certain that she will cure you, Val. But staying here has done you no good. It has been ten years. Perhaps you are right to let someone try. If she is willing to take you, this may be all you have.”

“She has already convinced me to agree, you need not bother.” He slumped against the counter. “I am willing to marry her if there is even the smallest of a chance that she could...”

_Guide me._

Wendell let go of the back of the chair he was holding and put his hands up. “Then an autumn wedding. September. It shall still be warm if we are lucky. I will let Georgette and your Alpha take care of the details” He moved toward the door. “Oh. And I shall have you take Perkins if your Alpha will allow it. He has been with you for so long, I'm afraid I have no use for him save what he does for you.”

There was something so uniquely satisfying in hearing his brother say the words “your Alpha” and Val stood against the counter for a little while just to soak it up and play it about in his head. To be _acknowledged_ had been something that had been fundamentally missing with...

_With Bentley._

He was braced for the blow that never came. His breaths were tight but even and this time, for the first time in a long time, he let it roll away from him like thunder across a plain, returning to the thought process and letting it tumble. He had never been _acknowledged_ before and given any kind of validation when it came to an Alpha. Drew was truly like a dream—a being that was given to him through fate and for no good reason at all. But dreams were temporary. How long could it last?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: JD glosses over a lot of neat shit that happens to our heroes to get to Val being a total fucking _badass._ Yeah, that's right.


	12. Chapter 12

He was wed a week before he was to go into heat on a beautiful September day with not a cloud in sight. He had visited Netherfield a few times during their engagement and found it charming, exceedingly overjoyed when he found the sizable library and then, as an added bonus, Drew's private library hidden in one of the upstairs rooms that had been originally utilized as an extra parlor by the previous Earl. He found out, on his wedding day, that she had been stockpiling blank canvases to give to him as a wedding present, keeping them under sheets in her personal library. In his pre-wedding jitters, he had sought solace there and accidentally found them, thus ruining the surprise. Far from being disappointed, Drew had laughed and kissed above his brow, unworried and undaunted by anything that seemed to go awry.

Any thoughts he'd had about having no little ladies to dote upon had been obliterated when Drew had introduced him to the four Beta Idlewinds. Hannah and Olivia were twenty and eighteen respectively along with Chastity and Quinn who were fifteen and thirteen. Even as Quinn was too young to present, she was taller than her two closest sisters by perhaps an inch or so, all of them around the same height as Drew—a formidable set of five. As they were all taller than Val, they set upon showering him with attention immediately, the wedding a twittering mess of them adjusting his hair and his clothes, Quinn bestowing upon his head a beautiful hand-made laurel of gold.

The ceremony itself was small and attended only by his closest family members and Drew's sisters along with most of the household servants. From what he understood, Drew was not hard-pressed to find an officiant who was willing to marry an Omega who had already been bondmarked, simply passing a few choice words to the reverend of the church that was located closest to the estate. Most Alphas could be hard-headed and just because she was a woman did not make her any less so. She was determined to marry him through soft or hard control.

As the reception had kept them up until the wee hours of the morning, Drew ending up wearing his golden laurel and the both of them hanging over each other drunk on champagne and laughing over silly tales from their youth, they did not end it with passionate lovemaking and were found fully-clothed the next morning by Wylie and Perkins who had slipped willow bark in their tea in an effort to soothe their inevitable headaches. In fact, Val found that Drew was carefully avoiding making love to him, coming to bed the next night late enough that he had already fallen asleep. The days passed this way and he had deduced that she was trying to keep up his strength and make sure he was not overly tired so that his heat would go exactly according to some kind of plan. He chuckled at the thought and felt his heart swell. When it happened, he couldn't help but touch over it, feeling it beating under his hand while that unfamiliar warmth spread outward.

He was sitting in the drawing room, lounging over the velvet of a settee with a book in his hands when it occurred to him that he'd been married for five days and he was the happiest he'd been in the past ten years. At Netherfield, it was difficult to get away from someone who wished to be kind for kindness's sake and he often found himself the center of attention, pleaded by the girls to tell them stories or to show them his paintings. He hadn't felt as though he'd laughed so much in his whole life. His book eased down against his stomach and he started counting days in order to estimate when, exactly, he should have fallen into his heat.

_Any time, now._

He was eager to feel that warmth and fever if only so he could finally— _finally_ —experience what it was like to be Drew's Omega. She had assured him that the bondmark on his neck was to be taken care of and though apprehensive, he believed her. She was adamant that he should be hers and hers alone for the rest of their days and the thought itself was enough to send tingles into his fingers and toes. Was he to have this kind of bliss for the rest of his life? Was it too much to ask that the pain of the last ten years be entirely erased by her hands? On one hand, he was convinced that she was much too beautiful, much too compassionate, that there had to be something horribly dark and wrong about her. But every time such thoughts came upon him, he would stumble over one of her sisters who would then prove to him over and over, again and again, that their lives with their older sister were filled with nothing but joy. Even when he had specifically asked Quinn what Drew's worst trait was, her answer had been a roll of her eyes and a sigh along with a laughing response.

_She sets her sights on something and she gets it. No matter how long it takes._

He closed his eyes and dozed, his gentle dreams and fantasies of her warming him until he was awoken by hoof beats and the rattle of a coach in the drive. Val took in a large breath through his nose, rolling off the settee into a standing position and letting the sudden shift soak in for a second before he shuffled to the door between the drawing room and the front hall, curious. They had had several different guests stop by to give them gifts and congratulations, it would not be so strange to accept another guest for that purpose so he leaned and waited until the housekeeper, the darling Mrs. Evans, opened the door and accepted their guest.

At first, Val was unsure, watching the tall Alpha stranger in a black hat and cloak sweep into the front hall with graceful steps. He turned to the housekeeper and shed his outer layer and his hat while he murmured his name and his purpose to her, too low for Val to hear. There was something very _wrong_ and Val's mind was screaming it from somewhere in the back, perhaps behind his left ear. He melted back into the drawing room and flattened himself against the wall, slithering his way to the decanter of brandy to his right. Of course, predictably, Mrs. Evans deposited the dark stranger into the drawing room where he strolled casually toward the settee, his back to Val.

He watched the man while he moved very casually, his large Alpha form bending as he discreetly scented the settee where Val had been lounging. His pheromones were slowly infusing the room and Val put a hand over his nose, unwilling to accept the truth of his sight. As much as he had thought for _ten years_ that if he should ever seen Bentley again that he should simply die, this day he was not filled with any such emotion. He couldn't feel his nose nor the tips of his fingers. There was a distinct emptiness inside him that was hot and burning.

Without thinking, he brought his hand from his face and murmured into the silence.

“How _dare_ you.” It was not a question.

The Alpha turned suddenly, his shock evident. He did not say anything at first, his green eyes taking in Val as the Omega stepped forward from the wall and stood in the light. “Val.” His voice was deeper than he'd remembered. It had aged along with the rest of him, the whole of him more distinguished and no less handsome. “You...you're...”

Val didn't let him finish. “You may address me as 'my Lord.' I have a title now and I would prefer you use it.” Every single droplet of sadness he'd ever felt for what he'd done seemed to have dried up as if in drought and all that was left was a dusty, cracked rage. He glared at the interloper with his chin high.

“I needed to see you,” Bentley explained. “I had heard you got married.” He dared chuckle, “That's wonderful, Vuh-uh...” He rubbed the back of his head. “My Lord.”

“I see no reason for you to have need to see me. I see no reason for you to be at Netherfield at all.” By the grace of God, his voice was even and did not tremble.

“Is it not so obvious, Val?” The man swallowed, visibly agitated. “I have been a man torn apart by sorrow for what happened to us. When my father told me that he would disinherit me...there was nothing I could have done. He forced my hand, Val, you know this. And here you are and you are married and finally perhaps I can...I can somehow sleep knowing that you are at peace. I came to tell you how very sorry I am.”

Val's whole body felt inflamed but his words were as cold as ice. “Would that someone should have come to tell me that you were dead.”

Bentley appeared as though he'd been struck. “You cannot mean that, Val. You...you loved me once.”

“A regrettable mistake.”

The Alpha had already lost his poise and put his hand over his mouth, spinning until he could look out the window toward his coach, his other hand on his hip and his head downward toward the settee. After a time, he took his hand away and dropped it to his side. “All of this time and I have pined for you, Valentine. I have thought of you every day of my life. I have thought of...the mark I placed on you of my love. Proof that I _love_ you. It cannot be erased as easily as you claim your emotions have been.”

“A specter,” Val stated flatly. “A haunt. A darkness. A _dark_ _tower_.”

Bentley whirled around, his voice a hard growl. “You cannot _mean_ that.”

Val took a step forward in his malice, his voice hard and raised, “ _I have never meant anything more_.”

A calm scent wafted over him and Val straightened, scenting the air until he found his eyes settled upon his wife—his Earl—leaning against the frame of the door with a cup of tea in her fingers, sipping it while she watched their interaction with those darling cinnamon and brown sugar eyes. She was not angry or even irritated in the slightest as her scent betrayed her, providing Val with nothing but calm sweetness. In fact, her expression was blank but, as Val often noted, her left brow had a peculiar quirk when she was hiding amusement.

Bentley turned his attentions and took a step back. “My...My Lady.” He gave a stiff half-bow.

Drew lifted the tea cup and her mouth turned up on one side. “Do not pay me any mind, continue, please. I have had need for a good chuckle.”

“You _mock_ me, my Lady?” Bentley asked in a dangerous breath. His Alpha scent was growing stronger in his frustration.

Drew shrugged a shoulder and sipped her tea. “You are treading on my territory, Northrop. I shall warn you but once. Your second comes with your hat in your hands and my boot in your ass.” Even as her scent remained calm, Val could tell she was _not_ speaking in jest. It seemed that Bentley recognized it as well, his posture stiffening when he looked between the two of them.

“I...I understand. I shall excuse myself then if Val does not have anything else he wishes to say to me.” He cast his gaze to Val, his eyes pleading for a tender word.

Val brushed his sleeve with a casual sniff. “I can think of nothing.”

Bentley made his way to the door, pausing only a moment next to Drew to look into her cool stare before he passed her and collected his hat and cloak, sweeping out the door without flourish. Neither of them moved until they heard the patter of hooves as the coach rolled away into the English countryside.

Val took in a huge breath, the tingles over his flesh refusing to leave and the warmth in his cheeks lingering. He untied his cravat and pulled off his gloves, tossing the items on the nearest chair. He lifted his eyes to his wife. “Well,” he breathed. “That was splendid, wasn't it?”

“I think you did quite well,” Drew said, sipping her tea again.

“I was being facetious.”

“I wasn't. I honestly have to say, Valentine, I don't believe I've seen you so bold. You're going to give me fantasies if you keep to it.” She flashed him a wink that put a hard warmth in his stomach. “We should send a thank you to your old flame in a week or so.”

He frowned. “What's the meaning of this?”

Drew set her saucer and cup down on a small table near the door and approached him, working the buttons of his waistcoat until she could pull it from him. “He's made you so upset that you've become feverish.” She raised her brows. “And I shall have to thank him for helping me put a pup in your belly.”

Val rolled his eyes while he helped her unbutton his shirt, eager to shed the irritating fabric. “I was to come upon my heat quite naturally without him, my Lady, his presence was naught but a disturbance. Though I...I am glad to be rid of him.” He pressed his warm fingers against his heated chest. “He has been a sickness inside me. For so long. Ah. I should have hit him.”

Drew leaned her head down and captured his lips in slow, languid kisses that drew moans from his throat into her mouth. As she no doubt did not wish to be caught by any of her sisters making love to her husband in the drawing room, she pulled him easily into her arms and walked with him, still periodically kissing him while she walked, striding to their bedroom with steps that Val was convinced were purposefully drawn-out. She did not put him down again until they were in their bedroom where Val immediately shed the rest of his clothes, grateful that September had made most of the house cooler, the air fresh against his skin.

Turning, he moved to her back to assist with her bindings, rubbing those little red lines that were left behind and passing his palms over her her sides. Without thinking, he came to stand directly behind her, tall enough of an Omega that his lips could press against the place where her neck met her back. Where his bondmark was placed on his own body. He reached forward and cupped her breasts, pressing her backwards while he licked and nibbled at her spine.

“Val?” she murmured.

“If I could mark you, I would. Right here. Where I could suck on it as much as I wanted to.”

She gave a low feminine rumble of laughter and her hands came over his where they rested on her breasts. “If an Omega could claim, I would very much wish for your teeth.”

He kissed her there and then rested his lips against her, closing his eyes and battling himself over his words. She let him stay there, content to let his heated Omega scent steep in the air of their room. Finally, with butterflies in his belly, he murmured against her skin.

“Your love looks upon tempests...”

She murmured back. “And is never shaken.”

“And if you were to lose everything for being with me...would your answer be the same?” He wanted to press tighter against her but his chest was already flush against the cool expanse of her back.

“I can love you just as well in the gutters of London as I can in the silk of Netherfield.”

“Is there nothing that would stop your love of me?” He almost wanted to laugh but he didn't. He couldn't. Especially when she pulled his hands from her and turned around in his arms, her hands gently cupping his jaw to tilt his head upwards, her cinnamon eyes replaced with deep pools of black.

“That is the wrong question, my love.”

He frowned until she elaborated.

“Northrop admitted that he has loved you. Consistently. From then to now. But there is a difference between Northrop and I that you already know of and have already seen with your beautiful eyes.” She kissed his nose and then the place above his brow. “I _get_ what I want. I let _nothing_ stop me. I am not an Alpha in name only. Perhaps one day that shall make you hideously frustrated with me but for now, it has served me well. For I have you. And he does not.”

“I shall forgive you when the moment arises.” He set his attention on unfastening her trousers, letting them fall and pool around her ankles. When she was entirely naked, he took a step back, his body giving little shivers and trembles as he fully examined her form and appreciated the heavy arousal in her scent. “Of course,” he quirked a brow, “You must then forgive me for my own peculiarities.”

She smiled. “Oh I believe I can handle your oddities.” She went to take a step forward but paused when he held up a finger, his feet bringing him just out of her reach.

“You believe so?” he asked, shuffling his feet over the carpet while he slowly wandered from her, making a small circle to bring himself around to face her again. He could feel fine beads of sweat trickling from his hair and down his neck. “I think you could find me _especially_ strange, Alpha.” He grinned at her deviously. “I want to paint you.”

“I shall let you paint me whenever you wish.”

“Now?” he asked, flashing his teeth in his smile.

“ _Now?_ ” she replied incredulously. “Val, you're in _heat_. You should be pouncing upon me the way you did in the clover.”

He chuckled, biting his bottom lip, letting another set of shivers pass through him. “I've been holding back this river for a very long time. You speak of it as if I should be screaming for you.”

Drew barked out a laugh, “Well _actually_ ,” she continued laughing, “Yes, that is generally what is expected. You cannot tell me that you are not craving my touch.”

“It would not...” he snickered, “make me unhappy.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You tease me, Omega.”

“I do.” He slid his own hand down his belly and took himself in his hand, stroking with his tingling fingers, the shocks of expectant pleasure radiating through him and gathering as a tense need in his gut. “I should very much like to play with you, Alpha.”

In a great show of will, she remained where she was standing even as she twitched watching him stroke himself. “I assume you are to drive me absolutely mad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're asking and it's "Did JD just cut a sex scene just as our precious Val was _stroking_ himself? And the answer is: Yeah. I did. Ah hah.


	13. Chapter 13

Drew had never seen such a thing before. Although most Alphas were limited in their ability to see an Omega in heat, she had been given the opportunity a few times by mere circumstance, finding the scents incredibly arousing and quite distinctive. Val's was possibly the most delicious and cloying scent she had experienced as of yet, the presence of him in the room sending hard shuddering shakes through her. But an Omega in heat was nearly never like _this_. She was almost surprised at her own resolve while she stood watching sweat beading over his body, her will to hold herself back wearing thinner and thinner as he teased her. Eventually, she was certain, she would turn into a mindless animal which was _not_ what she wanted. In order for the bondmark she wanted to place to fully cover the previous one, she had to be in _complete_ control of her faculties. It had not been such a complicated plan—that was, until she discovered that Val could seemingly dam up every natural Omega heat response.

Her voice was starting to turn into a deep growl. “You realize that if you drive me too far into frustration, I will be unable to stop myself. I will not be so careful with you.”

Val moved to the bed, leaning against it while he tugged and stroked at himself. “I have more faith in you than that.”

She was flattered but the hope that he was right was only just that—hope. “I cannot let you paint me.”

“Then let me pleasure you.”

He did not have to ask twice. Drew moved toward him but was stopped again by that simple gesture of one finger that he raised before she could touch him. The fact that he could simply stand there radiating that vexing scent was inconceivable to her, her brain starting to fog in the haze of his heat. He directed her to the bed, tapping the counterpane patiently and watching when she put her knee on it and climbed up. Her whole body was trembling consistently, the tremors never letting up even as she lay on her back, her head propped by her pillows. She was practically panting when she watched his gaze rove over her, focusing for a lingering moment on her hard length that was laying against her belly and aching madly.

He hopped between her legs as if he were completely unaffected by his own arousal even as his hair took on a damp sheen, clumping together with his sweat. He was marvelous. Completely unlike the Val that she had known outside of his heat. He hooked his fingers under her knees and drew them upwards while she narrowed her eyes up at him and laced her fingers over her stomach, taking deep breaths that were supposed to calm her—they had the opposite effect. Val paid her no mind, his fiery touch over her hips sending soft mewls to her throat and hard shudders through her shoulders. When he drew his fingers over her inner thighs, she had to cover her mouth with her hands to prevent a desperate cry and when he dipped lower—not to her length but _lower—_ she could not bear it, she sat up like a shot only to find his warm hand on her collarbone, holding her back.

Val was chuckling with a smug expression she almost wished to slap right off of him. She felt her fingers digging into the counterpane as her wide eyes watched him grinning at her, one of his hands hard on her chest and the other treading on _very_ thin ice as his fingers placed feather-light touches on that feminine part of her she had neglected and very nearly sought to erase from memory. She vaguely recognized that she was wet there—a leftover of a formless time, a useless function that caused her more embarrassment than anything else. Her whisper was broken and trailed.

“What...what are you doing, Valentine?”

He was still grinning at her. “Does my Alpha not like to be teased so? Does she not like being a _woman_ after all?”

“I have never...” she couldn't finish, her voice swallowed hard.

“Never?” His blue eyes flashed.

“Val,” she ground out, “I have been waiting to knot you for a week. My seed will be of the highest quality the first time I come to release within you. If you do this to me, it shall be wasted. I wish to put a pup in you and that is my best chance.”

He laughed when he slipped a finger into her, the sensation utterly foreign to her and causing her to yelp in surprise. “I shall be in heat for a week at least, my Alpha. You shall have plenty of opportunities to knot me and I am of the mind that you have done much over-thinking for your plot to breed me.” He put another finger inside her and curled them upwards, pressing on a point inside her that made her gasp and grip the counterpane even harder, her knuckles white. “I'm already impressed with you. You have yet to ravenously hold me down and penetrate me. Shall I tease you further?”

_Yes._

“No.” She could feel her jaw quiver as she leveled her stare over herself at him. She almost thought, for a moment, that he was going to listen to her. It lasted but a second before he slipped a third finger inside her. “Uhn. Val. If you do this, I shall scream.”

He withdrew his fingers and grasped her hips while he pressed his hardness against her. With a delicious whisper, he pushed forward to penetrate her. “All the more reason to proceed.”

“Oh my God,” she whispered, letting him push her back down while he slowly moved against her, angling his hips to thrust against the place inside her that made flashes appear in her vision and surges of pleasure shoot into her every fiber. She hadn't known such a different pleasure existed—content on utilizing what she had been given for what it was _for_. Val, in his curiosity and logic, had managed to hone in on a pressing question and answer it for both himself and her. She moaned and spread her legs wider, her pleas to him answered with his body. “Faster, Omega. Oh _lord_ , please go _faster._ ”

Drew wasn't prepared for his hand on her swollen and aching member and nearly as soon as he touched her, every nerve under his fingers lit as if on fire and she tossed her head into the pillows, her back bowing while her feet pushed hard into bed. A hard and ripping scream tore from her throat while she came, her carefully saved potent seed spilling in a hard jet that spurted over her throat and breasts, useless where it ended.

“Uhn, oh,” she gasped, “Oh my... _stars_.” She had to blink several times to dispel the haze that had come over her vision, still shaking as more of her seed leaked from the tip of her in small twitches of lingering release. He thrust inside her a few more times before his features squeezed hard and he came, grunting and arching over her with his member buried as far as he could get it as if he were trying to put a pup in _her_ rather than the other way around. She waited for him to finish and open his eyes before she spoke through her heavy breaths. “You... _Valentine_...are in trouble.”

He laughed again while he pulled out of her and leaned down over her, his tongue darting out to her breast where he lapped at her essence, distracting himself with a tender suckle over her nipple that was clearly meant as an apology. He pulled and tugged with his teeth, rolling the bud through his mouth while he pinched and rasped over the other with his fingers. Drew finally put her hands on him and yanked his head up from her breast, tilting his head up toward her forcefully.

“You are a very bad boy. You'll have to be punished.” Even as she said it, she couldn't keep a straight face, her mouth curling.

“Punished?” he purred.

She sat up, bringing herself to kneel while Val moved around her on his hands and knees, bowing his head down while he lifted his ass into the air in an overly dramatized presentation pose, the backs of his thighs shining with slick in the late afternoon light that was diffusing through the room from the window. Drew almost couldn't help herself from leaning over to put her mouth on him but she abstained through some kind of grace. Her orgasm had allowed her at least a fraction of clarity and she chuckled at his eager display.

“Oh no, Omega. It's not going to be that easy.”

Val grinned over his shoulder. “No? You don't want to _mount_ me, Alpha?”

“I want to mount you,” she growled, “But I want to spank you more.”

“ _Spank_ me?” he trilled, his face lighting up in humorous incredulity. “A _mean_ Alpha. A terrible woman. A—”

The slap she placed right over the meat of his ass cut him off and he let go of a pained yelp that was punctuated by a shocked gasp that devolved into a set of intense giggles. She slapped him again, drawing another cry from him while pink blossomed on his pretty white bottom. This time he didn't giggle, his member tightening where it dangled between his legs, lengthening as it hardened further. A third spank and he moaned, slick gushing from his exposed hole and tempting her to distraction. She couldn't help herself any longer. Drawing out her tongue, she set her mouth on him, spoiling him with deliberate wet kisses that opened him while she enjoyed his flowing sweetness.

“Oh, Drew...” he groaned, reaching for himself before her hands slapped him away. He grunted out his frustration, his fingers grasping at the pillows instead. “Ahn, spank me more, Alpha. I've been very naughty. I need another spanking.” His heated scent was getting stronger, pulling at her nose while he begged.

Tickled by his breathy requests, she drew back and slapped him with her other hand, droplets of his copious slick spraying over the bedding while he howled in a mixture of pain and pleasure, his thighs trembling and his entrance pulsing in instinctual need. She growled. “Is this how I get past your defenses? I just have to spank you? How many times do I have to hit you to make you desperate for my knot?”

“More, please, my Alpha,” he whined as he gave his bottom a little shake back and forth.

To see him like this was almost surreal for Drew. When she had first laid eyes upon him and found him to be almost unearthly in his beauty, she could never have even imagined his luxurious voice begging to be spanked and knotted. She never would have guessed that his crystalline eyes that gave such a convincing illusion of innocence would be peering back at her over his sweaty shoulder, lust-filled and pleading for her to _hit_ him. She gave in, laying out careful but sharp open-palmed slaps over his ass and his thighs. With every strike, his scent became more and more powerful and Drew found herself unable to stop swallowing as her saliva production kicked into overdrive. Pinks and reds bloomed over his soft flesh while he moaned and panted, his body shivering and shuddering with his need while slick fair poured out of him, dripping down his stinging thighs and his tightened erection.

“ _Drew_ ,” he breathed. “Please, I want you. I n-need it.”

It was the request she'd been searching for and she did not miss a beat, swiftly pushing his hips to the correct height before she slid inside him without preamble. He was tight at first but his body was designed for this very thing and he took her readily, his sigh of relief washing through him in a tangible wave. She caressed the fragile flesh of his ass and thighs, rubbing where she'd struck him while she rocked her hips, her movement almost too easy from the amount of slick he'd produced. She increased her tempo gradually until he was giving out abrupt cries, bowing his head forward as his unspoken signal that he was ready for her to knot him. To _claim_ him.

Her movements were calculated as she rocked him back in short but methodical motions, pushing him against her knot to work him until she felt him stretch to take her, the guttural cry he emitted about halfway between a moan and a scream as his muscles contracted around her in the intensity of his release. He was still shuddering in orgasm when she pushed him down to the wet counterpane, their bodies locked together. She grazed her thumb over the bondmark on his neck and then carefully licked around it with her tongue, mapping it and memorizing before she cast her teeth over it and buried them into his pale flesh, ripping through that old scar with ruthless precision.

“ _Oh God,_ ” Val screamed, his hand reaching back to grip at her hair, pulling hard while he tensed and writhed, helpless against her teeth and her knot. “ _Aaaaahhh!_ ”

When she pulled back, she had to use her own hand to release the grip the poor Omega had taken in her hair and she lapped at him, laving the bleeding wound with the flat of her tongue while Val let out a few gentle sobs into the pillows. She had known that running her teeth through his previous mark would be intensely painful but, in the end, it would come to be worth it. Breaking that bond was her only way to ensure that Val was to be hers. _Hers._

She whispered into his ear, nuzzling the soft shell. _“'I love thee with the passion put to use_ _in my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith._ _I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints_. _'_ ”

His head tilted to the side, his eyes wet with his tears. He sniffed and then whispered back to her in a broken but contented murmur. “ _'I love thee with the breath, s_ _miles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.'_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sonnet 43. Elizabeth Barrett Browning.


	14. Chapter 14

By the time his heat was over he was nearly finished with the underpainting for his next piece, a project that was nearly always worked on when he was nude. Usually, when he painted, he would sit on a stool to do so but as Drew had been doing her due diligence in putting a pup in his belly, he'd found that his bottom was often much too raw to press it bare against the hard surface of a seat. He'd found that his subject was more often impatient and unwilling to pose for him so he had to do most of his painting while she was asleep, his loving caresses enough to guide her dozing form into the pose he wished of her. Of course, he had never before created something so inherently erotic and, as he was in heat, he sometimes found himself inadvertently stroking himself while his other hand placed delicate brush strokes over the canvas.

He spent much of his time perfecting the piece even as his heat faded and the two of them slipped easily back into the day-to-day of Netherfield. Although he had not been overly concerned about his own fertility, he found himself to be quite pleased when Mrs. Evans passed her nose over him as he came down to breakfast.

“My Lord?” she tweeted, turning him around in the hall to face her.

“Yes, Mrs. Evans?” He held his back straight and looked down from his unusual height at the older Omega.

Her cheeks were dusted with pink and she was fair beaming at him. “You're not quite aware of it, I gather?”

“Aware of...?”

The excitable woman leaned forward and whispered the news. “You're _expecting_.”

He frowned. “What is it that I should be expecting?”

“No,” she giggled, waving her hand at him as if he were a ninny. “You're with _child_ , my Lord.” She tapped the side of her nose with her finger. “This little one is never wrong. You shall run along and tell your Alpha right away and I shall keep to myself about it so the news is to come from your lips.”

He was quite pleased indeed, actually, and he placed a soft palm over his lower tummy as he wandered off, hoping that Drew was having breakfast at the same time. When it turned out that she had taken some toast and scooted off to her study, he tracked her down there and gave a small tap on the door frame, nervous about interrupting her work.

“Oh, Val,” she smiled from the desk. “Is there something you need?”

He inched into the room, shuffling his feet along the the carpet until he was standing in front of her desk. “I was wondering if you might tell me something.” He stifled his smile and tried to keep the straightest of expressions.

Despite all his effort, her brow had quirked as she had sensed a game. “Oh yes? And what is it that I should be telling you?”

“If I have a different smell.”

“If you're looking for me to scent you, you may have to close the door, my sweetest Valentine, for I've a mind to toss these ledgers onto the floor and—”

“Drew, I have reason to believe that I am carrying a pup.” He paused while she jerked in surprise. “Your pup. _Our_ pup.”

She stood suddenly and with one casual jump, she stepped on her work and swung her other foot out to land on his side of the desk, scaling the huge cherry wood behemoth as easily as climbing a single stair. Her arms were around him and her fingers were suddenly entwined in his hair, her nose pressing intimately against his throat while she breathed him in.

“You're certain?” she asked, her breath warm against his neck.

“Mrs. Evans says so.”

“Omegas can sniff it out better than Alphas or Betas,” she said, backing her nose from him and pressing her lips against his. Her hand gently came to rest above his belly. “Best keep it to ourselves for now. Might not stick. Might have to put another one in you.” She gave a playful growl, causing him to laugh and duck out of her embrace.

Of course, as was typical in a house with so many women, it was unfeasible to keep something like a possible future heir a secret. The four sisters were ecstatic and seemed to dote on him even more than they had before, if such a thing was possible, fussing over how much he ate, _what_ he ate, and the types of activities he found himself doing. They twittered constantly about how much they were going to adore a baby and how they were very much hoping that the babe should come _late_ June as opposed to _mid_ June simply for their supposed party schedule. Val was, after his breakfast, usually found hiding in Drew's personal library where the girls did not bother him and where he could busy himself with a book or a painting. Sometimes, on particular days, Drew would slip into the library and he would read to her or she him before she went back to work. Other times, she would slip in and make love to him while the noon sun shone through the windows. As the circumstance of expecting a pup made his hormones run rampant, it was not all that uncommon to find himself wet with slick at even the slightest provocation, leading to some tender mornings and steamy afternoons.

He had been getting quite used to near-constant intimacy, thrilled to bits at being enveloped by her as he slept and waking to find her hand low on his belly where her pup was growing inside him. As the weather got colder, it seemed that Drew preferred to stay in bed longer with him and he was not of a mind to complain. Even the day of their Christmas dinner, she pulled him against her, running her palm down his chest and stomach until she could gently press over his gradually swelling abdomen. It was small but it was quite noticeable simply due to how slender he normally was and Drew was absolutely smitten by it, touching him often and even before they went to bed making sure to kiss him there, her tender touches often leading to her mouth traveling to more _sensitive_ places.

Netherfield was practically bustling when they'd come down the stairs. There were candles glittering everywhere and the whole place smelled of molasses while Chastity and Olivia argued at breakfast over the ownership of a particular set of ribbons and the other two girls rolled their eyes in annoyance. The staff was running amok to make sure that every course was to be complete for the dinner and Quinn took to pestering Drew if they could play at least one round of snap dragon in the drawing room after supper. The whole affair was quite tiring so he decided to take a nap before dinner, waking only when Drew kissed him out of his slumber and dressed him for supper.

The girls were in rare form over the duck and pheasant.

“I say, does Val not have any clothes that will suit for the later months?” Hannah asked, her eyes wide. “We shall have to go into town to get some before he becomes perfectly obscene.”

Drew cleared her throat. “I believe we can take care of such matters without a gaggle of girls making a ruckus over it.”

Chastity rolled her eyes. “What's the point of a pregnancy if you can't throw it in everyone's face that you're expecting?” She turned her attention to the Omega. “Val, you know you're simply gorgeous, it wouldn't be right not to rub all those smug Omegas' noses in it that you're so much prettier _and_ expecting a pup.”

Drew gave a disturbed glance to her sister. “That is utterly absurd. And what shall you say to your sister if she presents as an Omega? Shall you be so jealous then?”

“Quinn?!” Chastity cried. “The girl is taller than Olivia! If she presents as an Omega, I'll eat your hat. No. Those silly tiny girls need to be settled down a few pegs lest they forever believe they're _irresistible._ ”

Olivia chimed in. “They think that just because they're small and they smell pretty that they can flip their fans at any men they please. It _would_ serve them right to have a tall, handsome man paraded around them with a nice round tummy.”

Hannah shrugged, “And a _lady_ Alpha.”

There was a small murmur of agreement that passed through the crowd of ladies but Drew still seemed entirely unamused.

“We shall cross that bridge as it comes and it will _not_ be crossed with flags or fanfare.”

There was a pause before Quinn's small terrified voice floated over the meal.

“What if I _do_ present as an Omega?”

Val seemed to be the only one who was laughing at the distinct sound of horror in her voice and he leaned forward to look at her over the meal. “Fear not, Quinn, for if you do, you shall have me as your guide and you shall stand head and shoulders above the rest of them.”

“Quite literally,” Drew muttered, drawing giggles from the rest of the table.

The conversation then turned, as it inevitably always did, to the topic of Val's pup, the girls chattering on about what in the world the two were going to name it.

“If it is a girl,” Chastity mused, “Perhaps Elizabeth? Then we can have a Lizzie!”

Olivia brought her shoulders up with a smile. “Alexander for a boy? That is a beautiful name for an heir.”

Drew leaned forward again. “And if he is an Omega?”

Val barked out a laugh. “I should not be hoping for such but I cannot help it. It would be nice to have someone to commiserate with me. I shouldn't feel useless as I would with an Alpha.”

“What about a Beta?” Hannah flipped her hair, preening. “We shall make sure to help you two with a Beta.”

Drew scoffed, “As if I don't know _exactly_ what to do with a Beta. Or _four_ Betas.”

“Or _three_ ,” Chastity turned her mischievous eyes to Quinn.

“Do not tease your sister,” Drew growled.

When dinner was over, Val sat with the girls on the floor in the drawing room to play snap dragon—a game he hadn't even thought to play since he was but a child in parlors on cold winter nights. He sat and laughed with the five sisters, gently massaging a dull ache in his stomach that had begun sometime around the time of his nap and had persisted through dinner. After the last round of snap dragon, he stood and paused for a moment while a sharper decentralized pain jabbed at him.

His Alpha stood with him. “Val?”

“I'm alright,” he muttered. “I just think I should lay down. I do not believe supper is agreeing with me quite well.”

She offered an arm but he refused it, strolling with her rather casually while seeking to alleviate her concern. He had her laughing by the time they reached their bedchamber, a warm fire in the hearth lighting the room along with the lamps, casting a glow over his Alpha that he admired openly.

“To think that I should be so happy,” he murmured while she pulled off his cravat and waistcoat. “I had never thought that it should come to be this brilliant.” He took off his own shirt and turned away from her toward the fire while she rustled behind him, removing her clothes. His stomach tightened uncomfortably and he unfastened his trousers to allow for more space, slipping them down and off and kicking them to the side. “I have been reflecting on names,” he mused. “I do like Alexander. But then, I am also partial to Basil or Cedric. And a girl? Constance. Perhaps Daisy? I do like Daisy. She should remind me of my Iris.”

“Valentine?” came Drew's whisper.

“It should be unusual for one to name a child after their Omega,” he chuckled, staring down into the licking flames. “Though we could name either sex Drew.”

“ _Valentine_ _,_ ” Drew snapped and he turned to her, her scent and her expression hitting him with a sudden welling panic. Her wide, terrified cinnamon gaze was focused near his feet and he was utterly unprepared for his eyes to be met with a growing stain beneath him, the carpet quickly becoming saturated with the deep sanguine of his blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The classic game of Good News/Bad News. Whoops, sorry Val.
> 
> Up Next: When it rains...??? Also: We get to see Morgan and Hollow. :D


	15. Chapter 15

She was laying on the settee in the drawing room with her empty glass balanced on her stomach. Hannah had, at Drew's request, moved the large shallow bowl of brandy-soaked raisins left-over from their game of snap dragon closer to her so that she could dip her fingers into them and pop them into her mouth as she pleased so she might have something to do instead of sit in the stillness and let her mind run away with her. Despite them, she frowned up at the ceiling while Perkins drifted into the drawing room, tugging at the fingers of his blood-stained white gloves to remove them before he poured himself a glass of sherry from the stand in the corner. Usually, the act could have been considered impertinent but Drew was more than happy to give Perkins the whole damned decanter should he be of the mind to drink it.

He set his gloves down on a glass-topped parlor table and floated to Drew's side, taking her glass from where it was balanced on her stomach and filling it with brandy before giving it back to her without a single word. They sipped from their respective beverages as the minutes dragged between them and the night moved on.

The closest person to Netherfield that Drew could have thought to call was not the Beta doctor, who should have taken upwards of two hours to arrive, but the middle-aged Omega midwife who had taken less than fifteen minutes after having been sent for by coach. Her name was Miss Vandolin and she had immediately sat Drew in the drawing room with the promise that everything was going to be alright. Of course, as Perkins shifted his attention, Drew did too, finding the lady at the entrance to the hallway with her hands clasped in front of her and a mild smile on her face.

Drew sat up immediately, holding her brandy tight to her chest.

“Well?” Perkins blurted.

Vandolin allayed Drew's fears with a plain statement. “He is perfectly healthy. You shan't have to fear for him.”

She felt as if she could have fainted from relief. The shock of having seen him fair _gushing_ blood had put her heart straight into the pit of her stomach and sent her anxieties sky-high. It had not been mere blood, either, to her great panic. It had been dark and mixed within it had been disturbing clotted masses. He hadn't been in much pain at first but as it had continued, he had complained of dull jabbing—it was enough for her to bellow out for Perkins in her rarely utilized _Alpha_ voice, every protective instinct suddenly blaring in her mind.

Perkins wordlessly set down his drink and poured another sherry which he gave to the midwife while she sat on one of the chairs facing Drew.

Vandolin sipped. “He is resting. If he is to bleed any more, it should only be a small amount. He should walk tomorrow, it will help him expel anything that is leftover but he should do nothing difficult.”

“The pup?” Drew asked, knowing the answer.

“No pup, I'm afraid, my Lady. But his heats should return as normal and you are welcome to try again as soon as another comes. He should suffer no lasting effects.”

There was a long pause and Drew found her eyes caught in the golden reflection of her brandy. “Is there...is there anything that could have been done? Was there _ever_ a pup?”

“Aye, there was a pup,” Vandolin said casually, “but these things just happen sometimes and there's no reason for it. He's a well-loved Omega and you're obviously a gentle and compassionate Alpha, there's no reason to assume that it could have been prevented. He hasn't been taking many tumbles off o' horses or being tossed around. You should be fine to try again.”

“Is it...because he's a man? Or I'm a woman?”

The midwife laughed, tickled pink by the question. “No, for goodness sake, my Lady. Perish the thought. He's a fine, healthy Omega and you're a fine healthy Alpha. There's no reason to believe that he shouldn't be able to carry as many pups as you're willin' to plant in his belly. Now, I shall be off. Send for me if he starts bleeding heavy and send for me if it continues more than the morrow or the next day.”

“You won't stay?” Drew asked, standing as the woman stood.

Vandolin gave her a cheeky grin. “Ah, you'd like that. But I've got a cow needs milkin' in the mornin' and there isn't a Mr. Perkins 'round my home to milk her.”

Perkins blushed a deep scarlet while he hid his face sipping his sherry.

“Alright,” Drew conceded. “Perkins, take her home in the coach. I cannot thank you enough for coming, Miss Vandolin. I'll have the housekeeper take care of your fee and then some.” She pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers.

“Make sure to call me when you're needing your pups brought into the world, my Lady,” she said while she curtsied politely. “Would be a fine honor for me. You should go to your Omega, he will need your comfort.”

She took a deep breath, flashing an uncertain glance to Perkins before she left, climbing the stairs with that strange almost-guilt sensation pooling in her gut. It wasn't her _fault_. It wasn't anyone's fault. But she couldn't help but obsess over the idea that she and her seed had managed to put him through something so—horrifying. When she opened the door to their room, she was hit with the scent of fresh blood, her eyes immediately drawn to the drying puddle by the hearth and stains that marked where he had moved throughout the room. Her sheets had been changed—the previous ones a lost cause—and he'd been given a belted contraption that was usually saved for Omegas who were still leaking after birth. It was something the midwife had come with, a thing she made by hand for first-time mothers.

Drew was already barefoot, shuffling over the ruined carpet until she could press her knee into the bed, the pressure of her drawing Val's attention and turning him to face her. His eyes were tired but bright and he seemed only glad to see her, his scent calm and passive. It soothed her nerves greatly to be near him and to see him so. She hadn't realized that she'd been holding her breath until she let it out in a soft sigh of relief.

Val's voice was a warm murmur. “Hold me, Alpha?”

“Of course,” she smiled, tucking herself under the blankets and molding her clothed form around him, careful not to pass her hands down to where his soft skin had been previously bumped with child. “How are you feeling?”

“I am well enough.” He sighed. “I am quite sorry, though.”

Drew was taken aback, shock passing through her. “Valentine, you have nothing to be sorry about.” Her words might have been too sharp for he flinched away from her. “There was nothing you possibly could have done.” She clutched him, pulling him back toward her, aggressively pressing her face against the back of his head, her teeth skimming over his exposed neck until she could lick the mark she'd placed, a gesture of mutual soothing that, at that point, was more for her than Val.

His chuckle was befuddling. “The sentiment was more in reference to the _carpet_ than to the pup, but I shall be sure to make note of your adamant opinion, my Alpha.” He struggled to turn in her arms and managed it, pressing the tip of his nose against hers, his tired blue eyes reaching hers with a touch of humor. “I should consider it the cruelest hand of fate that as I pondered names, I should be reminded of the whims of the womb. I shall not consider the time wasted. That our first pup shall not have a June birth is of little consequence. The little one was just not quite yet ready to be born.”

Drew let out a soft chuckle that was barely more than a breath. “Oh yes. I am certain the small thing had many _pressing matters_ to attend to.”

Val moved forward, pressing his nose against her throat to take in her pacifying fragrance. “One who is of this mortal plane cannot possibly comprehend,” he explained. “The work of such creatures is unknown to us.”

“Such creatures?” she asked, finding his hand and lacing her fingers with his.

“It's quite clear,” Val stated. “I am to bear you a pup from the fae.”

“Oh?” Drew laughed.

“Promise you shall not be cross if I am to bear you a changeling.”

“Provided that the babe you provide me is healthy, I shall not be concerned if the little thing is to grow wings and fly.” She ran her fingers through his hair, eased by his mewl of content. She was further calmed by his good humor, suddenly realizing that her worries had been for naught. Omegas were designed to handle such puzzling concerns and traumatic losses, their sense of rationale when it came to pregnancy no less instinctual than their insatiable lusts and general submissiveness.

There were no complications in the next few days and within six weeks, Val fell into another heat and, as Vandolin had suggested, it was entirely normal. For the most part, the Omega acted as if nothing at all had occurred during those months he had been expecting and he was more than happy to allow Drew to knot him—after a playful bit of spanking, of course. For Drew, the whole of it was a reassurance that the midwife was right and that, in the end, everything was going to turn out perfectly fine.

But by two weeks after his heat, Mrs. Evans had not said a single word.

She lay with him in their bed, petting his cheek with her thumb, her thigh cast over his hip to lock him in place.

“Not a single peep from her,” Val whispered. “It didn't take. How that could be is a mystery. You knotted me so many times, I could have sworn...”

“Fret not, Omega,” Drew smiled. “Heats are not rare. We simply try until the fae deign to bless us with their changeling.”

“How are you so patient with me? Any other Alpha would be cursing my infertility.”

“How do you know it is not something to do with me? There are two people in this bed, Val.” She pulled the pad of her thumb over his worried brows in an attempt to soothe them. “And I have already told you so many times how I love you. Shall I count the ways?” She laughed when he gave a shy smile.

As patient as she claimed to be, she found that two more infertile heats were enough to wear upon any Alpha who had been hoping for even just a single chance at an heir. She hadn't wanted to admit that she had noticed the both of them drifting toward solitary moments but she had and she hated it. Drew kept herself busy with her work and the estate, passing over the books and numbers to keep herself busy rather than think about where Val might have been—which books he could have been reading. He had begun painting again but they were small portraits—nothing like the blush-worthy full-figure of Drew that she'd been utterly mesmerized by when he'd completed it. She knew he was drawing away from her and she had reacted in kind.

Of course, even as she had been expecting things to further deteriorate, fate had other plans when, in late March, a regal coach arrived at her doorstep and she took herself down from the study where she she had heard the hoof beats to find the tall and imposing figure of Morgan Haskell, the infamous Duke of Asterly in her front hall by the door. He had not finished shedding his outer layers and she was amused to see the delightful former Mr. Hainsley peeking from the inside of the massive Duke's cloak.

“Asterly,” she mused. “What brings you to Netherfield?”

He was grinning like a fool. “My Lady, you look well. Unfortunately, we have no time for formalities. We were just on our way to Belcourt and we seem to be in need of a...accommodations.”

She turned her head and narrowed her eyes toward him with an amused expression where she stood on the stairs.

Asterly tugged at his cloak to reveal his tiny gray-eyed Omega. “I believe Hollow and I are in want for a... _midwife._ ”

The tiny Duke was not so little around his midsection and as realization dawned, Drew felt her heart both expand and shrivel at the same time. “Oh,” she drew up. “We are to have a pup? At Netherfield then? Let me send Perkins. The midwife has a bit of a thing for him.” She chuckled, tapping her way down the stairs and reveling in Hollow's sweet Omega scent, toned with the musky aroma of his broken water. After giving Perkins his instructions, she came back to find the housekeeper fussing with the servants to get a room ready for a birth while Asterly had set Hollow on the edge of a settee in the drawing room, his bottom on the very edge of the velvet, as not to ruin it, and his knees tight together.

Drew laughed, “Go on and sit on the damned thing. You're going to need to be able to faint if my sisters—”

It was as if she had spoken the name of Lucifer himself. All four of her sisters were suddenly in the doorway to the drawing room, twittering like mad to curtsy the two Dukes and congratulate them for their first pup. Asterly was clearly quite amused, his golden eyes flitting between the four Idlewind sisters until he was able to catch Drew's gaze and give her a comical glance of commiseration for her plight.

“Alright, alright, ladies,” Drew stated loudly. “ _Out_.” They were gone.

Hollow was laughing though it was strained against his contractions. “It must be so lovely to have that Alpha voice sometimes. I think I should rather like to use it on _you_ , Morgan.”

The proud soon-to-be father looked at his little Omega. “I should think not. You love me too much.” He turned to Drew. “And where, pray tell is your little—” He stopped short and Drew turned to the entrance of the hall to find Val peering in with curious blue eyes. Asterly murmured wonderingly, “Not so little...I suppose.”

She summoned a warm expression. “Valentine, come greet His Grace, the Duke of Asterly. Ignore the big one, he's nobody.”

Asterly laughed but stood, bowing deeply toward Val as the Omega approached. “Forgive me. I remember you, Elridge.”

Val's mouth was ticking up even as he gave his own bow back. “Oh yes. Asterly. I recall that you were quite a force.”

“And yourself?” the Duke countered. “I was quite vexed when you disappeared. I had been plotting my way to kissing you in the garden for laughs. Ah, so young and inexperienced. It took me too long to think of how to do it and by then you had vanished.” His golden eyes flashed. “Of course, I suppose you've heard?”

“Heard?” Val drifted closer to Drew.

“Oh goodness,” Hollow breathed. “Is this that nasty business with the horse? Gracious, what a nightmare. I think I shall be having terrible dreams for weeks.”

Asterly snickered, shoving his hands into his pockets with a shrug. “It seems that our mutual acquaintance, Northrop, was drunk and in disagreement with his wife. He managed to get on his horse and ride but a few hours later and the horse came back only for the groomsmen to find that the pitiful thing was dragging Northrop in its reins.” His hand came up to his cravat and touched lightly. “He'd been strangled by them.”

Drew's brows lifted. “An odd way to go.”

“Quite morbid,” Hollow agreed. “But if anyone could know how to strangle themselves in a horse's reins, a drunk man would be the likely culprit. I can't even imagine how he managed it.”

Val's face was utterly blank. “Ah,” he muttered. “So the bastard is dead and here I am having wished it upon him.”

Asterly chuckled. “You are certainly not the only one who's done so.”

“Oh!” Hollow cried, his tiny gloved hand gripping at his plump belly. “Pardon,” he sighed. “I did not mean to interrupt.”

Drew couldn't help but be tickled. It was so typical of the tiny Omega to be so _unobtrusive_ _._ That, nevertheless, wouldn't matter. As soon as the room was ready, he was moved to it and when Vandolin arrived, she was keen to scoot the curious Alphas out and to insist that Val stay to assist her—a practice that Drew thought must have been quite atypical. There were plenty of other servants who could have helped her and she had been banking on keeping a calming Omega with the anxious Asterly.

She and Morgan spent the evening in her games room, his nervousness coming and going in waves along with his ability to effectively play billiards. They sipped brandy and tried not to remain silent as it was difficult to keep from pricking a sensitive ear toward the muffled cries of a birthing Omega. The protective instinct was a strong and heavy pull but only a few times was she ever concerned that she might have to stop the Duke from tossing the door open and dashing to Hollow's bedside.

“Well, what do you think?” Drew asked him after a slight pause where she could tell he was pricking his ears.

“Of?”

“Val.”

Asterly looked up at her, her distraction successful. “He's quite handsome. Always has been. He was very pretty when he presented. T'was a shame when that dog, Northrop, got a hold of him. He'd known it couldn't end well. He was betrothed.” The Alpha shrugged. “I'm impressed you managed to find him. Halwill hasn't let a soul near him and...of course...the bondmark.”

“You knew?” Drew asked.

“Of course we knew. Well...some of us. It wasn't as if I could have simply arrived at Halwill's estate and asked for his hand to rescue him. If anyone were to do it, it couldn't have been _me_. I was a young, foolish child then. By the time I had any sense of honor...” he paused, frowning, “Well...forget I said that. I'm fair certain I'd be lying to say I've ever had a sense of honor.”

She sighed into her glass. “Tell me something, Asterly.”

“Mmm?”

“Was it easy to get the little one with child?”

The Duke shrugged. “I suppose one could consider it easy. It wasn't as though I didn't work for it. He wrung me dry every damned day.”

She moved to the couch and flopped herself down on it.

“Having troubles?”

She didn't have time to tell him of them as there was a gentle knock on the door before it opened, Val's pretty face poking in to tell them that Asterly was very much wanted upstairs in order for him to comfort his Omega and to hold his pink and perfect first-born son. The Duke was off like a shot, excusing himself past Val and leaving the two of them in an awkward silence while the Omega stared down at his Alpha where she had sprawled herself on the couch.

“So?” she murmured. “How is Hollow?”

Val didn't smile but his voice was affectionate. “For one so small, he is mighty.”

She brought herself to her feet and went to him. “And you?”

He bridged the gap between them and placed his head on her chest, allowing her arms around him. “I feel lost, my Lady. As lost as I was in the clover. I fear that you shall lose your faith in me and lose your love as with your lost saints.”

“No,” she whispered into his hair. “Never. Never in a hundred, no, a _thousand_ years.” Though even with such a proclamation, she felt his shoulders droop against her and as she took him to bed, his listless eyes grew dulled and she could see that he did not believe her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lawd have mercy. Hollow's such a cute little pumpkin. 
> 
> Okay but... "Ignore the big one. He's nobody."


	16. Chapter 16

He felt it come over him a few days later during the early morning hours while he was still in bed, the two of them not touching and facing away from each other. That was common now since Val had wriggled his way out of her grasp so often, she did not much try to force him into affection. He lay under the sheets unmoving while he felt his hair dampen and sweat roll in the hollows of his body. Drew, for her part, was a heavy sleeper and did not awaken right away, even as his intensely heated scent filled the room. He lay still and quiet, staring unseeing while the ache coursed through him, afraid to slip out of the bed in the case that his movement might wake the sleeping Alpha.

She could say it so easily: that she could love him through anything. But words were so simple to say and so hard to live. Bentley had said many words to him. Many lies that were proven to be such. And as far as Drew had claimed that Bentley had been the loser of their Alpha power-match, Bentley, though now dead, presumably had an heir. At least one son who was built in a manner that suggested he was to present as an Alpha. His betrothed could at least give him that. How...how was Drew supposed to continue loving a broken Omega? She could fix his bondmark—she had, even. She could convince him to marry her. She got everything she ever wanted through hard-won Alpha tenacity. But this was something an Alpha couldn't possibly remedy.

Three heats without even the barest hint of conception after the disaster of the first and it was all he could think about. The thoughts of his failure haunted him as he wallowed, wandering through the halls of Netherfield and through the wet spring grass of the lawn during days he could not stand to sit still. He was trapped, suddenly, in his heat and in this bed next to a woman who made it sound so effortless to love him with such hideous intensity. He could not weep. It was a hopelessness that was beyond tears, leaving his existence in a black formless space of bells that chimed maddeningly.

He was suddenly snapped from his trance when he felt her looming presence behind him, her first touch a delicate sweep of her fingers and palm over his inner thigh close to his knee, brushing upwards while her tongue dipped over the back of his neck, tracing the mark she'd made over his old one. Her touch stopped short of his tight manhood, her gentle hand flush against the sensitive flesh of his thigh—more a comfort than a cheeky gesture—while she licked him in a blatant effort to soothe his sorrowful scent. Her arousal was almost suffocating but she was not close enough to him for the rest of her body to touch his, only close enough that he could feel the thrum of her restrained excitement.

They lay that way for what seemed like hours and every so often she would continue her gentle laps and licks, every one of her movements limited and careful not to disturb him too much. She waited that way even as he felt her giving out silent hard shivers, her breath coming in short, shallow pants while she battled her instincts, fighting constantly to keep herself from roughly pushing him down and taking what she needed as an _Alpha._ He commended her for it. After all, it had taken him years upon years to perfect his ability to stomp down the screaming, weeping, desperate heated Omega within him. She had no such practice and her nose was inches from his neck while she lapped at him. He could feel the tremors in her sighs against his skin, the threadbare control she was straining against.

He murmured and felt her startle at his voice.

“If you are much bothered by me, Alpha, I am certain I can be comfortable in the blue parlor.”

Her voice sounded almost fatigued and came out between her pants. “No bother, darling. I am content to be near you. Always.”

“You are not...angry with me?” He closed his eyes, a sick feeling settling in his heart.

“Of course not, my love,” she replied, licking over him again.

He felt a difficult hardness in his stomach. “What are you going to do? You are mad if you think you can lay here with me and not perish in frustration.” He pushed his face toward the pillow. “I cannot give you even one child, Alpha. Not _one_. That is not even to suggest that perhaps I could give you an heir.”

“It has been but four heats since our wedding, Valentine. There shall be dozens more, including this one. I am content to wait until you are ready to try again.”

He sat up suddenly, wrapping his arms around his head and squeezing hard. “You cannot fix this, Alpha. Your temerity is useless in this venture! It is _beyond_ your control and it is _essential_ _._ Your line must go on. It is my only true purpose, my only true duty, and I am _failing_.”

She still did not touch him, sitting up and beside him, so close that his skin tingled where he could feel her presence but inches away. “Is that what you believe of yourself?” she whispered, her voice gaining substance as she spoke. “That you are merely an Omega? Merely a vessel for my pup?” She scoffed. “If this is what you believe, Valentine, you have not been listening very carefully to your Alpha's words, to the sonnets she recites.”

There was no anger mingling with her constant arousal, only a slight tinge of sorrow that only served to deepen his own. “You need this, Alpha.”

“My name is Drew.” Finally, he felt her hands on him, her arms around his middle while she pressed her lips against his bondmark, kissing it tenderly. “You have drawn away from me again, my precious Valentine. I shall not have you believing that you are naught more than a means to an end for me. You are my love. You are my husband. When I pledge myself to you, it is for more than a pup. More than an heir. Do not confuse me for some addle-brained Alpha who cares only for their title.” She tightened her hold on him, pressing her body against his back, her words harder, holding her rare _Alpha_ voice under their calm overtone. “My name is Drew Idlewind and I am a woman in _love_ with you. Without care for any consequence. All titles stripped. All wealth tossed aside. Cast toward Browning's Dark Tower, I am with you. I will come with you wherever you go. I have told you this before and I shall tell you again and again until you are satisfied.” Her Alpha voice was prominent in her next words, leaving Val's mind buzzing with them. “ _My love looks upon tempests and is never shaken._ ”

He could not speak, still holding his head in his arms; he was reeling from her hard _Alpha_. Her warmth on his back and her lips on his neck, he could feel only her and hear only the echo of her edged words—words of love spoken as if a command. He wanted to rationalize her sentiment—to put it to her that she was only saying such due to her rut and the desperation inside her to say whatever he needed to hear for her to knot him. He knew it wasn't true and he could not hurt her so as to suggest it. He whimpered and felt her body give a hard tremble.

“How long can you hold to this?” he asked. “How long until you come to regret your words?”

She growled, a sting of anger slight in her scent while her teeth grazed the back of his neck. “Do not _test_ my patience with you, Valentine. If you are to put me through it, I shall weather a hundred sexless heats mere inches from your throat to prove my adoration of you but if you are to require it, I bid you do so without question of my _integrity_.”

“I apologize, Al—” He paused, taking his arms from his head and flopping them down over the counterpane. He whispered her name. “ _Drew_.” He felt a slight shiver pass through his body, his need for her pressing in from the back of his mind, a cloud that slowly seeped in through the cracks of his consciousness. He closed his eyes, all his focus on the tingling pinpricks under her lips and her hands, the places where her breasts pressed against his back. “I want to be with you. I want to please you. But I...I cannot bear the strain.”

Her hold was so tight, he thought she might suffocate him. “You do not have to try so hard.” She pressed her lips against his ear. “Let me love you, my sweetest.”

When he did not fight her, she moved and pressed him back into the sheets. As his mind screamed for him to stop her, his body let loose a stream of slick, soaking a small damp spot into the bed. He tried to move into the back of his mind, to remove himself. He was startled from the effort when she passed her leg over his lap, straddling him while she stared downward, her brown sugar gaze transformed into black open voids of lust. A cool thin string of fluid dripped from between her thighs, the stretchy line of it surprising him as it dribbled much like his slick over his hot flesh.

Her whispered repetition forced a whimper from his mouth that he barely heard over the rushing of his sudden urges. “ _Let me love you, my sweetest._ ”

She held him, lowering her hips down until he was sheathed entirely within her, his hands gripping her thighs as he fought for control over the haze of his heat. “Drew,” he choked, unable to hold back a desperate buck upwards that forced a gasp from her lips. She was slow and methodical, fighting every instinct she had if only to please him and learn him this way, her body relaxing and contracting with every errant shudder while she worked her hips to pleasure him. When she pulled off of him, he felt another whimper escape until he sat up to find her on her hands and knees, her thighs spread and her expression pleading.

“Perhaps my Omega wishes for something different?” she asked, her tone hiding a bit of cheek.

He scrambled to get up, his thoughts jumbled and confused as he took in her position— _his_ position. At first, he wasn't quite certain of what he was to do but with a slight shift of her legs to open them further, to lower herself, he caught on and came behind her, grasping her hips as he slid into her again, inciting her to moan and to push backwards to take all of his modest length. All at once, the rush came over him and he was doubled over, holding her tight and thrusting himself into her with frantic motions until he came with a broken cry, slick squirting out of him while he tensed and twitched. The respite was short-lived and he remained nearly painfully hard, his teeth clamping down over the flesh of her back while he began again in prurient agony. He vaguely recognized that she was giving out harsh yelps with his thrusts, her voice repeating his name with long vowels and breathy pauses. When she came, her body squeezed him as an exquisite vice, his second release hitting him like an ocean wave, rocking him deep into a dark weightlessness while he collapsed over her, his body heaving with exertion.

There was a deep rumble under him while he lay over her back, his manhood still buried inside her. Her voice came through her laughter, thick still with her lust. “I should have you mount me more often, my love. If you are to be so enthusiastic about it.”

He could do nothing but nod and allowed his heat to continue on this way. For days she indulged him, taking him inside her while she touched herself only with her hands, running her fingers over his thighs to gather enough slick to coat them to ease her method. When his fog was finally clearing, he could feel soreness where he normally could not, muscles used that he had never before exerted with such abandon. He awoke with a clear mind and without that suffering need to find her watching him with a small smirk in her features.

“Drew?” he whispered.

She ran her finger over his lips. “Shush, Valentine. I am savoring your scent.”

Val quieted, their eyes locking together while his heat very gradually faded. It would take perhaps the whole of the day for it to be entirely gone and to be replaced with his subtle Omega sweetness but he let her have at least this moment. He eased toward her and accepted her arm over him, pressing his lips against hers in a deep, searching set of kisses that melted him into a pool. A tiny amount of slick escaped him, reminding him that if he pushed further, he would feel the tug of a familiar ache. He let his lips still against hers and felt her breath over his mouth.

“You are an exquisite creature,” she whispered.

Val sighed and kissed her again, teasing her lips and tongue until he felt her hard against his inner thigh. “Drew?” he whined.

“Yes?”

“I...” he bit his bottom lip and then swallowed. “I would like for you to...to...”

“Whatever you desire, my sweetest.”

She made love to him while he faced her, able to look into those fathomless light brown eyes as she moved above him and kissed him periodically, some feather-light, some wet and passionate. When they were both spent and breathing together, Val took her hand in his and laced their fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whisper* _Vagina._
> 
> Up Next: The Last Chapter. But I still manage to put in a little surprise for y'all. That's not a baby. (Everyone expects a baby, what the fuck kind of surprise would that be?) Also: Perkins.


	17. Chapter 17

Val was inspecting a small purple flower that had risen from a hole in a late snow as he stood out in the lawn three weeks later when Quinn found him with a question that he had certainly not been expecting from the young girl.

“I suppose I should not come to you for this, Val, but I am much too embarrassed to ask Drew.” The girl's cheeks were blazing and her brows were knitted hard.

He straightened to his full height and still looked up at her anxious expression. “Well, goodness, Quinn, I'm sure it's nothing much serious, is it?” He grinned. “I shan't poke fun at you about it, whatever it is.”

She paused, biting her bottom lip and shifting her weight between her feet before she blurted quickly, “I don't know what to do, Val, how does one know when one is...is... _presenting?_ ”

Val's eyes widened and he brought his hands up in shock. “Well,” he stammered, “The first thing you do is not panic.”

“I believe I've failed,” she said, her eyes welling with tears. “I feel quite different today and I am certain that I shall be laughed at for the rest of my life.” She wiped at her cheeks. “How am I going to find an Alpha when I am nearly as tall as _they_ are? How shall I live with my _sisters_?”

Val glanced around his shoulders, finding no one about who could help him. He thanked heaven that it was cold outside. If the girl was really going into heat, she would find it much more pleasant to be outside for the moment, at least. “Are you quite certain you feel so different today, Quinn? You are only thirteen. That is young to present.”

“Yes, I...my...” Her cheeks flushed even more, their color a deep scarlet. She leaned forward toward him and whispered, “My _nethers_ are sore! And I when I am near you, Val, it is like I am in the kitchen when cook is making her sweetbread!”

“Your...” His voice trailed off with his thought and he suddenly felt himself let go of an effortless laugh. “Oh.”

“Oh?!” Her panicked expression only served to make his laughter worse.

“Yes,” he chuckled, “Oh.” He lifted his hands to her scarf that was wound around her pretty throat and pulled it away, gently taking the front of her cloak in his fingers to pull her toward him. Her scent was strong—as strong as Drew's. “My dearest Quinn. You should not be so worried.”

“How can you say such a thing?” she whined. “Chastity shall never leave me alone with her prodding. There is not a single Omega who will be content to keep their words about my height and—”

“Your height will be a perfect asset to you,” he grinned and then gave her a cheeky wink. “ _Alpha._ ”

She gasped, her hands clapping against her open mouth.

“Perhaps the two of us should find Drew together?” He walked with her, allowing her to hold his hand while he led her to the Earl's study, her new Alpha scent filled with strong, sticky pheromones. By mercy alone, they did not run into Hannah or Chastity on their journey and when Val finally pulled the girl into the study, he felt her iron grip on his hand loosen.

“Quinn?” Drew asked, immediately alarmed by the girl's expression. She came around her desk and was only halfway across the room before she stopped short to put her fingers to the tip of her nose. “Good heavens,” she blurted.

“Is it _terrible?_ ” Quinn asked, her eyes again wet with unshed tears.

“No, no,” Drew chuckled, waving her hands out in front of her to ease the thought, “It is merely _strong_. You are perfectly normal, I promise you. Though...perhaps a _tad_ young. That is of no consequence. Thank you, Valentine. I will bring Quinn upstairs.” She took her sister and disappeared with her, presumably to the girl's room and Val was left alone again, still overly amused at the entertaining turn of events.

He was fully intending on wandering back outside to further inspect the small flower he couldn't seem to place, his steps light and quick through the halls on his way toward a side door. Of course, he couldn't quite make it without running into Hannah who was discussing something of no great importance with Mrs. Evans. Two abreast in one of the halls was comfortable but three was less so and to get by, he sidled himself, brushing the front of his coat along Mrs. Evans's elbow as he passed.

“My Lord?” her voice rang.

He sighed, hoping not to be caught in some kind of gossip. Turning, he straightened and lifted both brows.

The two women were staring at him, Hannah curiously and Mrs. Evans with her lips pursed and a hinting expression on her face. Val was about to ask her what in the world she could have wanted until a cold realization dawned on him that the short little Omega did not wish to mention the small tidbit with one of the sisters about.

He gestured toward her stiffly with one finger. “R-right! I shall get to that...that _errand_ ,” he squeaked, turning around and dashing off around a corner. In his anxiety, he felt his fingers and toes turn slightly numb, pin prickles forming and spreading as his breaths grew shallow. He couldn't help but nervously cry out when he nearly barreled straight into Perkins, pulling him roughly into the library as he went.

“Perkins. How!?”

The valet seemed shocked and frazzled. “How, Valentine?”

“How!? She didn't knot me, Perkins, we did not even...we didn't...we didn't! That's right! That's all! We _didn't_!”

The older Beta straightened his waistcoat and rolled his eyes, calming himself. “Gracious, Valentine, I thought this was an emergency. I take it Mrs. Evans said something to you? Pull yourself together and quit acting like a silly Omega.”

“I am not acting like— Listen, I...I just...”

“Obviously something took, do not ask stupid questions.”

“But what if—”

The servant shot up his hand, grasping Val's chin tightly between his fingers, his eyes menacing and his mild Beta scent taking on the sharp tang of anger. “What did I _just_ tell you, Valentine? I shall not hear another stupid question out of you. Miss Vandolin was very clear that you are fully capable of carrying a pup to term. If this one is to go the way of the other, then you shall try again _without_ putting your Alpha through the inexcusable torment she has already experienced. Do you understand me?”

“Yuh-Yes,” he stammered as Perkins let go of his face.

The valet straightened and eased a smile onto his face. “Splendid. I suggest, then, that you inform your Alpha of your condition immediately.”

“She is with Quinn...I...”

“With Quinn?”

Val was unwilling to out the young Alpha quite yet so he simply bit his bottom lip, gave his valet an indignant sniff, and turned on his heel to leave the library and make his way up the stairs. Halfway through the hall and he was surprised he had not yet run into Chastity, as his luck seemed to be running amok this particular morning. With at least _some_ good fortune, he let his knuckles rap tentatively upon Quinn's chamber door, opening it only when he heard the young girl respond in the affirmative.

“Val,” Drew smiled where she sat on the edge of Quinn's bed.

He straightened and then bowed in deference, forcing a smile. “I came to see how our new Alpha is doing.”

Her cheeks were still pink and she was laying against her pillows. She groaned and crossed her arms. “Drew has told me it is to be a terribly difficult few weeks. But at least she says that Omegas are in a much worse state of affairs during their presentations.”

“It is excruciating,” Val told her, smiling even as he said it. “I assure you, you are quite lucky and you should remember that when you feel that you are not. Most Omegas emerge from it without a voice, they have screamed so loudly.” He sat with the two of them for a small while before he left with Drew, removing his light Omega scent before he could end up driving the poor girl up the wall with it if she were to tumble toward a rut.

“Truly,” he confessed as they walked together, “I swear I am not simply wearing my coat inside for no reason. I intended on going back outside.” She chuckled at him, guiding his elbow with her fingers. He recognized that they were to return to her study where she had left her work. “I had found this beautiful flower and I could not recall the name of it. But it was blooming through the snow and...and I thought that it was beautiful and a might bit...courageous, such as it is. A flower...” He laughed at himself, feeling blood rushing to his face.

“Is that so?” Drew murmured.

“And I...I thought that perhaps when the clover is in bloom...we could venture to my brother's estate. Just to see...the purple flowers.” When the door to the study was closed, he shrugged off his coat and draped it across the back of one of the wing-backed chairs, frustrated with his shaking hands. “I would very much like to...to walk with you in the clover.”

“I should like that as well,” she smiled, her eyes sparkling while she tilted her head at him. “Is that all, Valentine?”

“No.” He flinched at the word, hating that he was so damnably transparent. “There is...there is another thing. Though I find it somewhat peculiar, I suppose there is...there was a...moment where it was possible to have occurred.”

Drew laughed and reached for him, tugging his sleeve until she had him mere inches from her. “I already know, sweetest. You do not have to tell me if you feel you shall alert the fae to their mistake.”

He twitched in shock. “You? How?”

Drew shrugged. “You have a glow about you. That is all. It is not so unexpected for me. I have known for at least a week. I had to wait for the ever-discerning Mrs. Evans to be sure,” she said, winking and tapping her own nose. “Do not be nervous, my Omega. You are no lost saint. I fair say that you are a _found_ one. I shall never allow you to be lost again. That is both an order and a promise, Valentine.”

“But I—”

“But you what, my love?” She was smirking at him, smug and satisfied with herself beyond reason.

She was just so _sure_. Of course, he thought, Drew was fairly sure about nearly everything that had ever happened. Nothing about how they had met or married had ever implied that she was not absolutely certain of herself and what she wanted. Oh, to be so _decisive_. He swallowed and steeled himself, chancing a glance down toward his stomach under his waistcoat, taking a breath and then looking up into her eyes. His words were sure.

“I love you, Drew.”

Her kiss to his forehead was soft and sweet and her voice like honey. “To hear those words, that which are your own, I have wished and prayed every morn as I woke and every twilight I dreamed. To hope for such and to hear my name from your lips along with, I should die with a careless grin.” She pressed her mouth to his. “The sun, Valentine. The moon and the stars. If I could but pull them down from the sky. Yours, my saint. To the edge of doom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Quinn _and_ a baby! The baby's not much of a surprise though 'cause everyone expected a baby.
> 
> Thanks for reading everyone, this has been fun. I'll probably end up having cameos of all sorts of characters and hopefully Val's nieces will be back to their plotting and conniving ways in future fics.
> 
> Keep in mind, if you have a Tumblr and you'd like to share or know more about my Omegaverse, you can visit my Tumblr, [J.D. Writes](https://jdwrites.tumblr.com/) to chat with me or submit recommendations/headcanons.


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